Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin addressed his recent hospital stay in a press briefing today, saying, “I did not handle this right.”
Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer and returned to The Pentagon on Monday for the first time in over a month. “I’m recovering well, but as you can see, I’m still recovering,” he said.
The US Defense Secretary admitted “still having some leg pain and doing physical therapy to get past it.”
“But I want to be crystal clear, we did not handle this right, and I did not handle this right,” he acknowledged.
Austin did not immediately disclose his illness and absence to the White House, which was a breach of protocol.
“I should have told the President about my cancer diagnosis” as well as his “team and the American Public,” he said.
“I take full responsibility,” he said, and apologized to his “teammates and the American people.” Austin also expressed his thanks to his doctors and nursing staff at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
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