Former President Joe Biden has spent the day congratulating Democrats over the phone after he remained noticeably absent from the campaign trail.
The 83-year-old watched Tuesday night’s returns from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, during which time he made a series of phone calls, a source familiar with the former commander-in-chief’s whereabouts told the Huffington Post.
He connected with several Democrats he was once close to, including Georgia Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, who served in his administration.
But Biden also spoke with a number of Democrats who scored major victories over their Republican rivals in the ‘blue tsunami,’ including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Ohio Governor-elect Amy Acton, Nevada Governor-elect Aaron Ford, Illinois Senator-elect Juliana Stratton and Scranton Mayor-turned-Congresswoman-elect Paige Cognetti, who flipped Pennsylvania’s 8th House District, the source said.
The former president has largely remained out of the spotlight this election cycle amid his ongoing battle with prostate cancer.
The former president revealed his cancer diagnosis in May of last year, less than four months after he left the White House.
By August, his son Hunter said in an interview that the cancer had spread into his father’s bones, noting that it was ‘really sad to watch’ his elderly father suffer.
‘It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects,’ Hunter noted in the interview with the BBC.
Former President Joe Biden (pictured with his wife, Dr Jill Biden, at a September 11 memorial) was noticeably absent from the campaign trail during the midterm elections amid his battle with prostate cancer
The former commander-in-chief congratulated some of the Democratic victors on Tuesday over the phone, including Georgia Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, who served in his administration
Former First Lady Jill Biden also previously told Today her husband would ‘live with cancer the rest of his life.’
‘I think if he had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer, that’s one thing because that can be cured, but the fact that it metastasized to his bones, that makes it a whole different story,’ she said in June.
‘So I think Joe will live with cancer till the rest of his life.’
Joe has previously undergone radiation and hormone treatment. He also had surgery to remove cancerous skin cells in September.
Hunter said his father remains ‘out there,’ speaking publicly about the issues that are important to him.
‘He’s still doing his thing,’ he said. ‘He so believes in this country.’
Yet Biden did not stump for Democrats in this year’s midterm elections.
Instead, former President Barack Obama campaigned for Sherrod Brown in Cleveland and Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit on October 24 before heading to Georgia four days later to rally behind Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Barack Obama stumped for Democrats in key races in the final weeks of the election
Obama blamed President Donald Trump for high gas prices amid the war in Iran
In his speeches, Obama blamed President Donald Trump for high gas prices amid the war in Iran.
He also lambasted Trump’s plans to build a ballroom at the White House and slammed his redecoration of the historic building.
‘He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,’ Obama told supporters in Ohio, comparing the president’s gold decor to the ostentatious interiors at the restaurant chain.
Trump fired back by defending both the renovations and the restaurant chain, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined the fray with a television interview outside a Cheesecake Factory in Washington.
The spat even spilled into election night, when White House staff ordered Cheesecake Factory takeout for their watch party as the results rolled in.
In the end, Democrats seized both chambers of Congress after flipping six Senate seats and at least a dozen Republican-held House districts, delivering a crushing setback to Trump heading into the final two years of his presidency.
Among the biggest shocks was Texas, where Democrat James Talarico defeated Trump-backed Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Democrats also captured Senate seats in Kansas and South Carolina, breaking decades-long Republican winning streaks in both states.
The Republican losses extended to governors’ mansions, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott defeated by Democrat Gina Hinojosa and Vivek Ramaswamy losing his bid to lead Ohio.
In Georgia, Lance Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson to become the first black woman elected governor in US history.
In the aftermath, Obama said the Democratic victories send a ‘clear message’ to the White House.
Americans ‘want a politics that brings people together rather than divides them,’ Obama said in a statement on X.
The former president went on to hail the ‘outstanding candidates’ who swept to victory because they were ‘united by shared values, a belief in public service, and a commitment to putting the people of their districts and states first.’
Obama said: ‘While this administration has another two years in office, our job now is to roll up our sleeves, make changes wherever we have the power to do so, prevent further damage, and lay the groundwork for the future.’
But Trump sought to distance himself from the massive Republican loss, writing on Truth Social: ‘I wasn’t on the ballot, and if I was, we would have won in a landslide.’
