This is a controversy that Joe Biden would have done without. By admitting on Tuesday that the Minister of Defense had been operated on for cancer without the president having been informed, the American executive increased a controversy that was already very embarrassing for the Commander-in-Chief of the United States.
It’s a “not ideal” situation, John Kirby, a White House spokesperson, soberly admitted to the press. “This is not how things should be.”
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has come under fire since it was revealed that he was recently hospitalized and that his health problem was kept secret, contrary to current protocols.
Call for resignation
Not only was the public not informed until Friday evening, just before the weekend, but President Biden himself knew nothing of the cancer diagnosis for weeks, the White House said, in the middle of a year electoral and while the world’s leading military power is closely following two major conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.
This caused astonishment even in the Democratic camp and sparked calls from Republicans for the resignation of Mr. Austin. “He has no intention of resigning,” Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder responded at a press conference Tuesday.
Earlier, the Department of Defense detailed Lloyd Austin’s hospitalizations in a statement, saying for the first time that he had prostate cancer “detected early.” “His prognosis is excellent,” assured doctors in this text.
A month later
On December 22, he was admitted to Walter Reed Military Hospital and underwent a prostatectomy under general anesthesia, a surgical procedure that involves the removal of the prostate, according to doctors. Austin “recovered uneventfully from his surgery and returned home the next morning,” they added.
But on January 1, he was hospitalized again with complications following the December 22 operation, “including nausea with severe pain in the abdomen, hip and leg,” they said.
On January 2, he was transferred to intensive care “for close monitoring,” they said. “During this stay, Minister Austin never lost consciousness and was not placed under general anesthesia,” according to the same source.
But further adding to the controversy, the White House indicated shortly after that President Biden was only informed on Tuesday of Austin’s prostate cancer diagnosis in early December, about a month later.
“It’s not ideal for a situation like this to go on for this long without the commander in chief knowing,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council. The White House was also unaware that the Pentagon chief had been placed under general anesthesia on Dec. 22, according to Kirby.
On Monday, Joe Biden’s spokesperson assured that he had “complete confidence” in his Minister of Defense despite this affair.
But several Republican opponents of Joe Biden, starting with his probable rival in the November presidential election, Donald Trump, have called for the dismissal or resignation of Lloyd Austin. Several conservatives also judged that the affair revealed a lack of authority or competence on the part of the American president.