Former US president Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer paused the avalanche of damning stories about his mental acuity and cognitive fitness for office during his presidency.

The leaks and pre-publicity around a new book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper have been going on for weeks.

The authors contend that Biden’s decline was obvious during his tenure as president and accelerated while he was campaigning for a second term. They say the facts of the 82-year-old’s health were kept secret from the wider Democratic party and the American public by a small inner circle, led by his wife, Jill.

Then last weekend audio surfaced of his interview with former special counsel Robert Hur in 2023 in which Biden sounded confused, rambling and with a notably weak voice.

There were public messages of support and sympathy for Biden and his family from his supporters and political rivals - even president Donald Trump - when he announced the news.

But as the week has gone on, commentary has turned to speculation around the timeline of his diagnosis, reviving questions about what health issues he was dealing with while in the White House.

Irish Times Washington correspondent Keith Duggan looks back a monumental week for Biden and the Democrative party.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey.

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