Former President Joe Biden, 83, walked slowly and stiffly across the show field at the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance & Motor Week in Newport, R.I., on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in an unannounced appearance that reignited concern about his health less than two years after he left the White House.
Biden is living with stage 4 cancer and continues treatment. He was diagnosed in May 2025 with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
The rare public outing, at Fort Adams State Park, drew a crowd and a wave of commentary. Footage that circulated online shows Biden lifting a hand to onlookers, then moving stiffly. A blacked-out SUV waited for him, and his Secret Service detail flanked him on either side as he covered the distance at a cautious pace.
When local reporters called out for him to say a few words, Biden waved and repeated, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He lingered beside the vehicle, then turned back to hold up a jacket embroidered with his name. An agent held the door, and Biden eased himself slowly inside — but not before he turned toward former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, the event’s chairman, and muttered, “I don’t want to go.”
Rumors Build on the Field
Rumor had been building all morning about the car’s owner. Near the entrance, a Goodwood Green 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray stood on its own, and talk of who owned it traveled across the grounds. Spectators pressed in by midday outside a cordoned-off area around the two-seater, and agents kept them at a distance.
Accounts differ on which day Biden turned up. One report dates the appearance to Saturday, Oct. 3. Other accounts place the surprise visit on Sunday morning at Fort Adams, and Biden’s own Instagram post refers to “spending Sunday in Newport.”
Leno hosts the classic car series “Jay Leno’s Garage” and has been associated with the Audrain Automobile Museum in downtown Newport for a number of years. He invited Biden to bring the car and show it off.
At a welcoming ceremony, Biden was given a lifetime museum membership numbered No. 46 — a nod to his being the 46th president. Myron Wood of Warwick gave him a quilted jacket embroidered with his name. Biden’s Corvette won the Spirit of Audrain Award, and the crowd applauded politely as the ceremony ended.
Biden brought his grandson Robert Hunter Biden II, the son of the late Beau Biden and his wife, Hallie. He spent part of the afternoon smiling behind the wheel, shaking hands and greeting well-wishers.
Biden posted a message to Instagram on the afternoon of Oct. 4. He wrote that he enjoyed spending Sunday in Newport with his grandson Hunter, his friend Jay and some incredible vehicles, and that the green 1967 Corvette from Wilmington was looking especially nice. He thanked Nick Schorsch and his team for hosting the event. A Facebook post from the concours organizers described welcoming him as an honor and said it was clear he is a true car enthusiast at heart.
A Wedding Gift in 1966
Joe Biden Sr., who managed a major Chevrolet dealership in Delaware, handed his son the convertible as a wedding gift in 1966, the year Biden married his first wife, Neilia Biden. A 327-cubic-inch V8 and a four-speed manual transmission came with the car, which carried an original sticker price of $5,700.
Biden has owned the car for nearly six decades, and the odometer now reads more than 200,000 miles. He has said he once pushed it to 132 mph. His sons Beau and Hunter Biden had the engine rebuilt for him as a Christmas gift.
Biden appeared on “Jay Leno’s Garage” with the Corvette in October 2016, when he was vice president. He told Leno he had driven it only three times since becoming vice president in 2009, then sent the rear tires up in smoke in a burnout. Viewers have given that episode more than 4.6 million views on YouTube.
Larry Chen, an automotive photographer who met Biden at the concours, recounted on Instagram what he had said to the former president: that he is the only one to have held the office who knows how to do a burnout.
Health Worries Resurface
In August, his son Hunter Biden said the disease had advanced, describing it as painful and debilitating, and added that he wished his father would complain more about his condition. “The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” he said.
Biden’s last major public appearance before Newport was the 25th anniversary commemoration of the 9/11 attacks at Ground Zero in New York City. He joined every other living former president there and appeared frail and at moments pained as he sat beside his wife, Jill Biden.
Critics on X reacted to the Rhode Island video. One user wrote: “Ask him today if he remembers even BEING THERE yesterday…go ahead! Ask him!” A second user wrote: “Funny. Someone had Biden’s name stitched on his clothing so he remembers what his name is.”
Others were gentler, noting that he is fighting cancer. Biden, for his part, betrayed no unease about the day.
