President Biden Visits Sen Bob Dole After Cancer Announcement

President Joe Biden visited former Republican Kansas Sen. Bob Dole on Saturday in Washington D.C., the White House said, according to ABC News.

The White House said the president “is visiting his close friend,” ABC News reported. Dole announced he has stage IV lung cancer and said treatment is starting on Monday in a statement the Senator tweeted Thursday.

“While I certainly have some hurdles ahead, I also know that I join millions of Americans who face significant health challenges of their own,” Dole said in his statement, according to the tweet.

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Biden’s visit to Dole wasn’t announced and wasn’t part of the president’s public itinerary, according to The Hill. Biden was already with the former senator before the White House pool reported the matter.

Biden said “he’s doing well,” answering a pool reporter’s question on Dole’s status after the president went to Holy Trinity Church in D.C., according to The Hill. Dole and Biden were in the Senate from 1973 until 1996.

The 97-year-old lawmaker was a senator from 1969 to 1996 and served as the Senate minority and Senate majority leader, NBC News reported. Dole lost against former President Bill Clinton in 1996 when he ran as the Republican nominee for president.

Dole ran as the vice-presidential nominee with former Republican presidential nominee Gerald Ford in the 1976 election, NBC News reported.

Dole was awarded the Congressional gold medal in January 2018.

Alton & Bird LLP, a firm where Dole is special counsel, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.