I'm gonna guess his need for attention and control required him to say something.

But unlike the past, this is the end. So he can't just smug, sip coffee, and pretend he was right all along. So he is actually afraid now.

And I feel for that, death is scary and cancer is the devil. But, I won't cry for someone who was gleeful to send people to their deaths so he could just be right in arguments online.