Joe Biden’s comment creates a buzz

A buzz was created after a comment by President Joe Biden  in a video that he has cancer. His comment created alarm on social media on Wednesday. Mr Biden made the comment during a visit to a former coal mine plant in Somerset, Massachusetts, to discuss new executive orders to fight climate change.

The White House quickly got into a firefighting mode and clarified  that the remark with reference to skin cancer treatment he had received before assuming the office in January last year.

For many, the remark was casual, as Mr Biden was discussing the harm caused by emissions from oil refineries when he made a reference to his childhood home in Delaware and said, “My mother drove us rather than us being able to walk and guess what? The first frost, you know what was happening? You had to put on your windshield wipers to get literally the oil slick off the window. That’s why I – and so damn many other people I grew up with – have cancer and why for the longest time, Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the nation.”

As soon as the clip  carrying his cancer remark went viral on Twitter, it created a buzz evoking curiosity of many  who  wanted to know whether the comment was another gaffe or an admission.

An unending stream of tweets followed the video clip.

“Joe Biden just said he has cancer and called a male House member “she,” so things are going really well today,” a user commented. “Does Joe Biden have Cancer or Dementia?” tweeted another.

“I pray your cancer is healed,” another user tweeted.

The White House  spokesperson Andrew Bates referred to a tweet from Washington Post columnist Glenn Kessler, who noted that Mr Biden had “non-melanoma skin cancers” removed before he took office.

Prabhjot Singh