Obama offered Joe Biden financial help when Beau got sick

(Image credit: YouTube/CNN)

last updated 12 January 2016

When Vice President Joe Biden's son, Beau, first became sick with cancer, President Obama personally offered financial support, Biden revealed in a CNN interview Monday. At the time, Beau Biden was serving as the attorney general of Delaware and Biden worried about how Beau's family would get by without Beau's income were he to need to step down.

"I said, 'But Jill and I will sell the house. We'll be in good shape," Biden remembered telling Obama during one of their private lunches.

Obama, however, wouldn't hear of it. "[Obama] got up, and he said: 'Don't sell that house. Promise me you won't sell the house. He said: 'I'll give you the money. Whatever you need, I'll give you the money. Don't, Joe. Promise me. Promise me.'"

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Biden waved Obama off, saying "I don't think we're going to have to anyway." But Obama insisted, "Promise me." Watch Biden tell the story, below. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.