ABCJoe Biden comforted The View co-host Meghan McCain on the show Wednesday after she got emotional while talking to him about his late son Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer, and her father John McCain, who is fighting the disease.
Joe, 75, appeared on the show to promote his new memoir, Promise Me, Dad, which focuses on Beau. The former vice president and Democratic leader's son, the eldest of his four children who served as Delaware's attorney general, died in 2015 at age 46. John, the 81-year-old Republican Senator of Arizona, was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer this past July.
"I couldn't get through your book; I tried. Your son Beau had the same cancer that my father was diagnosed with six months ago," said Meghan, 33, breaking down in tears. "I think about Beau almost every day and I was told—I'm sorry—that this doesn't get easier. But you cultivate the tools to work with this and live with this. I know you and your family have been through a tragedy that I couldn't conceive of. What would you tell people-"
Joe then got up from his chair and walked towards Meghan, who said, "It's not about me, it's about everyone."
"It is about everyone," he said, taking Meghan's hand. "But look, one of the things that gave Beau courage, my word, was John."
Joe talked about his friendship with the senator and Beau's admiration for him.
"Your dad, you may remember when you were a little kid, your dad took care of my Beau...became friends with Beau," he said. "Beau talked about your dad's courage. Not about illness, but about his courage."
In June, Joe and wife Dr. Jill Biden launched the Biden Cancer Initiative, a venture aimed at continuing the fight to make progress in cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and care.
"There's breakthroughs that are occurring now...and it can happen tomorrow," Joe said, patting Meghan's hand.
"The thing that I found was, and Beau insisted on, your dad's gonna insist on, is you gotta maintain hope," Joe said. "There's hope. You have to have hope."