Biden discusses post-White House plans on hot mic
Vice President Biden on Tuesday discussed on a live TV microphone his unconfirmed post-White House plans to continue his efforts on the “cancer moonshot” and to work out of the University of Pennsylvania on foreign policy.
Speaking after the ceremony to swear in the new Senate, Biden was heard on a hot mic telling a woman that he plans “to continue the cancer work” through what he called “the Biden Trust,” according to audio from C-SPAN that was clipped by Quartz’s David Yanofsky.
“It’s not so much about raising money or philanthropy, though there will be some of that, but it’s more about keeping these guys cooperating and changing the culture,” Biden said at the Capitol.
Biden then responded to an inaudible question from the woman.
{mosads}“I’m going to be based out of Penn for foreign policy,” he said, added that he is “deliberately not associating with any one medical center.”
The vice president’s office confirmed to The Hill that the cancer work would be independent of any university.
“The vice president’s cancer work will be an independent entity and will not be housed at any one university,” said Biden’s communications director, Kate Bedingfield.
Politico reported last month that Biden would head to the University of Pennsylvania after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, though the vice president’s spokesperson declined to comment at the time.
Biden, whose eldest son died of brain cancer in 2015, previously said he would continue with the “cancer moonshot” initiative.
“I’m going to stay involved in this effort as long as I’m alive,” he told STAT in an interview earlier this year.
Biden has been caught unaware on live microphones before, famously telling President Obama at the signing ceremony for ObamaCare that the healthcare legislation was a “big f—ing deal.”
This report was updated on Jan. 4 at 7:57 a.m.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.