Former President Biden’s cancer diagnosis has done little to quell concerns about his decision to run for reelection, and many in the party acknowledge the issue is likely to dog them as they look toward 2028.

The announcement on Sunday that Biden had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer came as Democrats have been reckoning with renewed concerns over his mental acuity and whether he should have dropped out of the presidential race sooner last year.

While the news of Biden’s illness was met with an outpouring of condolences from both sides of the aisle, it also sparked new questions surrounding the Biden team’s handling of his health and underscored the degree to which scrutiny over the former president will persist through the next White House election.

“I think Democrats, whoever they are, need to be ready for this question,” Democratic strategist Maria Cardona said of attention on Biden’s 2024 decisions.

But, especially in light of the former president’s diagnosis, “it does the Democratic Party, nor the American people, nor the country we’re fighting for, any good for us to dwell on this,” Cardona said. “So let’s answer the question, and let’s move on.”

Prior to the announcement, several top Democrats seen as potential 2028 hopefuls were hit with questions about the end of Biden’s presidency, with many of them coming closer to acknowledging Biden’s weaknesses than most prominent Democrats had in the past.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told an Iowa town hall that his then-boss’s decision to run for reelection “maybe” hurt Democrats last year, though he encouraged the party not “to wallow in hindsight.” Asked whether Biden experienced cognitive decline in office, Buttigieg said that “every time I needed something from him and from the West Wing, I got........

© The Hill