US Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin says he should have handled cancer diagnosis better
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US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin speaking during a news conference at the Pentagon.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Feb 1 apologised for failing to tell President Joe Biden and senior staff about his recent prostate cancer diagnosis
Mr Austin, 70, also apologised for the way he handled his subsequent hospitalisation,
“(Mr Biden) has responded with grace and a warm heart that anyone who knows President Biden would expect, and I’m grateful for his full confidence in me,” Mr Austin said, in his first press conference since his secret hospitalisation.
Mr Austin’s secrecy surrounding his condition and his Jan 1 hospitalisation caught the White House and Congress off guard, and even Mr Biden did not know Mr Austin was hospitalised during much of the first week of January.
“I did not handle this right,” Mr Austin said.
The incident triggered a political uproar. Republicans accused Mr Austin of dereliction of duty.
Mr Biden, a Democrat, has said he has confidence in Mr Austin despite what the President agreed was a lapse in judgment.
Mr Austin said privacy and not secrecy was behind his decision not to tell the White House or public about the diagnosis earlier.
“It was a gut punch,” Mr Austin said, referring to his diagnosis.
Mr Austin added that he still had some leg pain, but his doctors were confident it would improve over time.
Mr Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Maryland on Dec 22 to treat prostate cancer.
He returned to the hospital on Jan 1 due to complications that included a urinary tract infection.
His hospitalisation was not disclosed until four days later, and the Pentagon did not specify why he was being treated until Jan 9.
Mr Austin said he did not direct anyone in his staff to keep his January hospitalisation from the White House or the public.
He added that he did not know what information had been passed to his deputy, Ms Kathleen Hicks, who temporarily took over his duties.
Some prominent Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, called for Mr Austin to be removed from his job.
Mr Austin, who is America’s first Black defence secretary, is a retired four-star general who led forces in Iraq.
The chair of the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee has asked Mr Austin to testify before the panel over the failure to disclose his hospitalisation in a timely manner.
“Congress must understand what happened and who made decisions to prevent the disclosure of the whereabouts of a Cabinet secretary,” committee chairman Mike Rogers wrote in January. REUTERS
