Vice President JD Vance said he was surprised to learn during a conversation with podcaster Joe Rogan that former President Joe Biden underwent two brain surgeries in 1988, with the exchange prompting a discussion about media coverage and public awareness.
The topic arose during Vance’s appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, where the two spent roughly three hours discussing a range of issues, including the conflict involving Iran, religion in public schools and the release of the Epstein files.
While discussing Biden’s decision to end his 2024 reelection campaign, Rogan argued that Democrats and members of Biden’s team had misled the public about the former president’s physical and mental condition. During that conversation, Rogan referenced Biden’s past medical history, leading to a moment of surprise from the vice president.
“He’s had two brain surgeries, like, where they have to take the top of your head off,” Rogan said. “Literally, they have to take it like a cap.”
Vance immediately interrupted to ask whether Rogan was referring to Biden.
“Wait, Biden had two brain surgeries?” Vance asked.
Rogan confirmed the claim.
“Oh yeah!” Rogan responded.
Vance appeared genuinely surprised by the information and questioned how he had never heard about it before.
“How did I not know this?” the vice president asked.
Rogan seemed equally surprised by Vance’s reaction.
“You didn’t know this?” Rogan asked.
“I didn’t know that he had two brain surgeries,” Vance replied.
Biden underwent two brain surgeries in 1988 to treat multiple intracranial aneurysms.
After hearing more about the procedures, Vance reacted with disbelief.
“Wow!” he said before joking, “Did he get a refund afterwards?”
Rogan replied that the surgeries “kept him alive.”
Vance continued to express surprise as Rogan discussed the operations.
“I did not know this. That’s crazy,” Vance said.
The conversation then shifted to why the vice president believed he had never encountered the information before.
Rogan questioned how Vance, who now serves as vice president, could have been unaware of Biden’s medical history.
“How’d you not know about that? That’s nuts. I knew about that,” Rogan said.
Vance responded by suggesting the issue reflected broader shortcomings in the media environment.
“Well, it speaks to how constrained our media environment is that I never heard that,” Vance said.
Rogan agreed, arguing the topic had not received significant attention in the political narrative surrounding Biden.
“Right. It was not part of the narrative,” Rogan said. “It was certainly not for the Democrats.”
The exchange came during a wide-ranging interview that covered numerous political and cultural topics. Although much of the discussion focused on current events, the conversation briefly turned to Biden’s medical history after Rogan referenced the former president’s surgeries while discussing the 2024 election and Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race.
Vance’s reaction stood out as one of the more unexpected moments of the interview, with the vice president repeatedly expressing surprise that he had not previously known Biden underwent the two procedures decades ago. He ultimately attributed his lack of awareness to what he described as a constrained media environment, while Rogan argued the surgeries had not been emphasized as part of the broader public discussion surrounding Biden.
