US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has apologised for failing to tell President Joe Biden and senior staff about his recent prostate cancer diagnosis ahead of time, adding that the health scare was a “gut punch” that had shaken him.
Mr Austin, 70, also apologised for the way he handled his subsequent hospitalisation, which was kept secret from the public, senior staff and Mr Biden himself for days.
“(Mr Biden) has responded with a grace and 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 1 January hospitalisation caught the White House and Congress off guard, and even President Biden didn’t 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. President 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 was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on 22 December to treat prostate cancer.
He returned to the hospital on 1 January 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 9 January.
Mr Austin said he had never directed anyone in his staff to keep his January hospitalisation from the White House or the public.
He revealed that he is still recovering and has limited use of one leg, using a golf cart to get around the Pentagon building.
Mr Austin’s health problems and the unusual secrecy over his treatment comes as US forces are fighting off daily Houthi missile attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes and preparing a military response to the killing of three US soldiers based in Jordan in a drone attack.
The top government military official is also a key figure in attempts by the administration to maintain support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion, with Republican members of Congress refusing to pass a new aid package.
Some prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, called for Mr Austin to be removed from his job.
Mr Austin is a retired four-star general who led forces in Iraq and who is America’s first black defence secretary.
