Post by Webster on Feb 1, 2024 13:16:47 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Lloyd Austin on keeping cancer surgery secret from Biden: 'I did not handle this right'
The secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, was contrite in a Pentagon press briefing this morning, his first since being rushed to the hospital with complications from prostate cancer surgery that he kept secret from the president and the public for several days. “I want to be crystal clear: we did not handle this right and I did not handle this right,” Austin told reporters. “I should have told the President about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public. And I take full responsibility.”
Biden said he apologized to the president. “I should have informed my boss,” he said. “We didn’t get this right,” Austin said in response to another question, insisting his decision not to inform the public was a matter of “privacy than secrecy.”
Offering an explanation that he insisted was “not an excuse,” Austin said he received a diagnosis for prostate cancer in December before the holidays. “The news shook me, and I know that it shakes so many others, especially in the Black community,” he said of his diagnosis. “It was a gut punch.” Austin went on to say that he is a deeply private person who does not like to “burden” others with his problems, but learned belatedly that his position requires a level of transparency with the American people that he failed to provide.
A reporter noted that he arrived to the briefing in a golf cart and asked about his prognosis. Austin said it was the first time he rode in the cart, which he found “pretty neat” and that he was improving with physical therapy. “I won’t be ready for the Olympics,” he quipped.
The secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, was contrite in a Pentagon press briefing this morning, his first since being rushed to the hospital with complications from prostate cancer surgery that he kept secret from the president and the public for several days. “I want to be crystal clear: we did not handle this right and I did not handle this right,” Austin told reporters. “I should have told the President about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public. And I take full responsibility.”
Biden said he apologized to the president. “I should have informed my boss,” he said. “We didn’t get this right,” Austin said in response to another question, insisting his decision not to inform the public was a matter of “privacy than secrecy.”
Offering an explanation that he insisted was “not an excuse,” Austin said he received a diagnosis for prostate cancer in December before the holidays. “The news shook me, and I know that it shakes so many others, especially in the Black community,” he said of his diagnosis. “It was a gut punch.” Austin went on to say that he is a deeply private person who does not like to “burden” others with his problems, but learned belatedly that his position requires a level of transparency with the American people that he failed to provide.
A reporter noted that he arrived to the briefing in a golf cart and asked about his prognosis. Austin said it was the first time he rode in the cart, which he found “pretty neat” and that he was improving with physical therapy. “I won’t be ready for the Olympics,” he quipped.