Former President Joe Biden joked Friday that he was “mentally incompetent” and said his metastatic prostate cancer’s “prognosis is good” in his first public appearance since being diagnosed 

with the potentially fatal condition. “You can see that I’m mentally incompetent and I can’t walk and I can beat the hell out of both of them,” Biden, 82, blustered during a Q&A with

reporters. His claim that he could “beat the hell out of both of them” was apparently a reference to Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, co-authors of the recently released book “Original Sin:

President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” The former president added that “I don’t have any regrets” about seeking another term before being forced

after delivering a brief speech Friday at a war memorial near his Wilmington, Del., home on the 10th anniversary of the passing of his son Beau from brain cancer. In his prepared remarks,

Biden said that he was upset that US politics are “so divided” in his first speech since being diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer — saying too that “I get really angry” over people

calling for cuts to veterans benefits. Biden — who called President Trump a fascist and a threat to American democracy during last year’s campaign and referred to supporters of the 

then-Republican nominee as “garbage” — showed no obvious new signs of physical infirmity despite the cancer spreading to his bones. “My friends, Memorial Day is about something profound. Our

politics have become so divided and so bitter — all the years I’ve been doing this, and never thought we’d get to this point, but we are,” said the former president, without pinning any of

the blame on himself. “Our troops don’t wear a uniform that says ‘I’m a Democrat’ or ‘I’m a Republican.’ It says I’m an American, I’m an American. That’s who I am. I’m serious about this.

I’m not joking. And folks, our politics has become, as I said, so divided.” Biden, 82, swiftly transitioned to one of his favorite rhetorical crutches, saying that the US was “the only

nation in the world founded on an idea.” “The idea that America was founded on,” he said, “is ‘we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men and women are created equal, endowed by

the creator of certain inalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We mean it. That’s who we are. That’s what makes America most unique nation in the world, literally,

not figuratively.” Because of military members, he said, “American democracy has endured for nearly 250 years. Every generation, every generation, every generation has to fight to maintain

that democracy.” Biden said America’s war dead are “asking us to do our job, to protect our nation in our time now, to defend democracy, be part of something bigger than ourselves. So today,

let’s renew our pledge to honor our heroes.” At one point in his speech he said “I get really angry when I hear about veterans are seeking too much” — without providing any context about

whether he was referencing historical or present political circumstances.