Joe Biden is known for his perennial gaffes and misstatements. His critics view him as an outright liar while his fans acknowledge that Biden is prone to exaggerations that do far more harm than good.
But, there was a time when Biden was viewed as not just a “young and athletic” agent of change in the Democratic Party—but as the bright hope for the Democratic Party’s future.
First elected in 1972 to the United States Senate representing Delaware, Joe Biden was greeted with great enthusiasm by his colleagues. There were multiple calls for him to run for the presidency in 1976, when he would officially be old enough to do so. Biden resisted those calls for a decade before opting to enter an open field in 1987.
It was the end of the Reagan Administration and Democrats had taken a beating for most of the 1980s, with Reagan as their great villain. Heading into the 1990s, many Democratic Party insiders hoped that with Reagan’s second term ending, they might be able to revitalize their ailing party with new leadership.
But for Joe Biden, trouble was just around the corner.
The Hope and Tragedy of Joe Biden ‘88
Joe Biden was their great hope.
Still young, athletic, and affable, Biden was believed to have been tempered by a decade of experience in the Senate.
Since the 1988 Democratic Party Primary was an open race, many thought that he would have the best chance to breakthrough. Biden entered that race with great anticipation from Democrats who hoped that he might be another John F. Kennedy.
Within three months of announcing his bid for the presidency, though, Biden’s campaign imploded.
His reputation immediately shifted from that of a promising, young, and athletic potential Democratic Party president to an amiable—possibly even malicious—dunce whose political days were likely numbered.
The fact of the matter was that Joe Biden had lied.
What’s more, he had lied in such an obvious way that it called into question many other things that he had done and said in the preceding decade as a public official. That the lie was not over anything consequential did not help Biden’s case. As Nixon proved over a much larger scandal, it’s never the actual controversy that takes a political leader down. It’s the lie; the subsequent cover-up that usually does.
Specifically, Biden lifted several passages from a famous speech that UK Labour Party Neil Kinnock had made while he was campaigning in Britain for high office and failed to attribute them to the British politician.
Biden then subsequently lied to the press about it, prompting a deeper investigation by the media which resulted in the discovery that not only had Biden plagiarized in that instance—but that there were numerous other times throughout his career where he lied and exaggerated.
With each revelation, Biden attempted to obfuscate and ignore which only made the situation worse for the would-be presidential candidate.
Joe Biden apparently lied about a great deal. While a law student at Syracuse in 1965, he was forced to retake a class because he had plagiarized a paper and was brought up on charges of having violated the school’s academic integrity standards.
Biden retook that class which is why it did not come up during his later campaigns. It only came to light after the Neil Kinnock incident in 1988. Not long thereafter, more proof of Biden’s falsifications about his credentials to the public came about. He went around telling voters that he graduated top of his class at Syracuse, when in fact he had graduated law school in the bottom half—76th out of 85 to be precise.
When Joe Biden finally addressed the plagiarism scandal on the campaign trail in 1988, he engaged in his other routine character flaw: anger.
While today’s Biden has been derided as “sleepy” due to his age by Donald Trump and other opponents, the fact is that Biden has a temper that swings wildly.
At the press conference where he confessed to having lifted Kinnock’s words, he essentially negated the confession by insisting that the scandal wasn’t a big deal and he shouldn’t be required to attribute quotes to other people when speaking publicly multiple times a week all around the country. That was the end of his 1988 campaign.
It is an important experience in Biden’s life, though.
The 1988 campaign showed that Biden was not ready for primetime after all.
More importantly, it had reinforced the notion that his critics at the time had said of him: that Biden was essentially an empty suit.
Biden did not run an ideas campaign during a time which had been defined by the Reagan Revolution—the greatest ideological revolution in modern American politics.
The Left had nothing to counter it other than to offer up various personalities.
What Doesn’t Kill You Politically Only Makes You More Corrupt
All these negative traits in 1988, however, eventually shaped Biden’s successful (third) presidential run in 2020. At that time, the election was less about ideas and more about personalities.
As I noted previously, the American voter had grown tired of Trump’s peculiarities and explosive personality and wanted someone less threatening and more stable. Biden was portrayed as that man.
He still lied. He continued to exaggerate. Biden misspoke on a George W. Bush-like level. The aging politico, like Trump, had rage ingrained in him. That had been tampered with, though, by good press and the fact that Biden could never top Trump’s spasmodic nature in public.
More importantly, Biden’s history of duplicity extends beyond fabricating his resume and life experience. His viciousness and dissimulation may include outright corruption. After all, Biden’s son, Hunter, stands accused of being one of the most prolific illicit influence peddlers in the world. Hunter Biden is believed to have spent years serving as his father’s bagman to multiple world and major corporate leaders, trading access to Joe Biden’s office in exchange for vast sums of money.
According to a former business associate of Hunter Biden’s (whose credibility remains in question by most mainstream sources), Tony Bobulinski, every transaction Hunter Biden conducted had a “cut” taken out for “the big guy” (Joe Biden).
If true, then, the lying has taken on all new meaning.
The Biden Family would have been involved in a decades-long criminal conspiracy to sell access to Joe Biden’s various political offices to some of the worst people in the world.
And Joe Biden lied about it.
Joe Biden’s Bad Habits Became His Weak Character
He manipulated his family and friends into going along with the crime. It is completely believable in the context of Joe Biden because of just how smarmy he has behaved over his career—from lying about his law school graduation ranking to shamelessly ripping off a fellow politician from England (and then becoming incredulous when he was made to apologize for it).
The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once admonished his pupils to, “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” In thought, words, deed, and ultimately character, Joe Biden has a history that leaves much to be desired.
If Biden’s character is as bad as many fear it is, then his destiny is bleak indeed—and so is America’s if follows him too closely down whatever moral rabbit hole Biden is going down.
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MORE: Liz Cheney: The Next President of the United States?
Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who recently became a writer for 19FortyFive.com. Weichert is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as a contributing editor at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower(Republic Book Publishers), The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (March 28), and Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Charles Ware
March 3, 2023 at 1:35 pm
Well that was interesting. Joe Biden isn’t perfect by any means. That said you have taken a couple of things from Biden’s past and turned that molehill into a mountain. If lying is the issue Biden tells one lie to Trump’s thousand and Trump is forgiven regardless of the number or how serious the lies are. I’m detest lying but we are all completely accustomed to being constantly lied to. Biden has been a very good president. His predecessor is a liar and a thief. There is so little dirt and scandal around Biden you are grasping at straws that are 30 30 years back. If all you can find on Biden is the old fall back about his son…. Yadda yadda yadda laptop…
Yadda yadda yadda. It’s all speculation. I know how bad the right wants something to beat Biden with. It’s sad that you try so hard and have essentially nothing but same tired rehash of ancient failure. Rehash of the Hunter Biden non events regarding ukta. Trump’s pathetic lying theiving spawn do more crime in an afternoon than Hunter Biden has done in his life if indeed he actually has done anything criminal. The right just keeps pushing on that string. Pathetic.
Sean Thomas
March 3, 2023 at 2:02 pm
A lot of words screaming about something from 35 years ago
But this is my favorite part
“Biden did not run an ideas campaign during a time which had been defined by the Reagan Revolution—the greatest ideological revolution in modern American politics.
The Left had nothing to counter it other than to offer up various personalities. ”
From Reagan’s 1980 campaign stated with the “states rights” speech in Philadelphia, MS to win over “George Wallace-inclined voters” to him being intellectually incurious (trees cause pollution, ignoring AIDs, the astrology nutbaggery) Reagan “played” President. He was the epitome of personality based politics.
the author just happens to agree with his reactionary policies and what it has done to America.
Brian Rudi
March 4, 2023 at 10:17 am
Back in 2020 the WSJ interviewed Tony B and reviewed his financial records. They wrote an article stating “Corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden.” More than 2 years later neither Bobulinski nor any media organization has proven the claims of “10% for the Big Guy” so there seems to be good reasons why his credibility remains in question. We all know full well that conservative media would be running the story 24/7 if they could prove it. Was there an actual point to bringing him up or is it just red meat to the MAGA crowd who will eat it up just like they ate up the stolen election lie for years? As a contributor at the Washington Times have you dug into Bobulinski’s claims?
Thomas D Hadley
March 4, 2023 at 7:41 pm
I’m 75 years old and have lived in Delaware all my life and have watch Joe Biden since he entered politics, in Delaware and then the US Senate. Joe has always been a liar, and a corrupt politican. I only hope one day he and his crime family are held accountable for the corruption they have bestowed on our once great nation. People like the Biden family only shows what greed will turn you into. How long does this nation have to put up with this crime family. Due to the Bidens and crack Head Hunter this country is a laughing stock of the world. The CCP owns the BIG GUY.
RJ Casey
March 4, 2023 at 9:46 pm
So Mr. Weichert, before reading your article, I wanted to know what the “1945” was all about, especially considering the provocative inference in the article’s title.
Below I’ve pasted a portion of “1945” mission statement.
“We welcome all ideas to the table. We seek to publish any idea provided you defend your ideas well through reason, logic, and facts”.
Your article does not follow that mission statement. The 3 prior commentators to your article explain that pretty well. For me, geopolitics and history are my passions, and my University Jesuit priests taught me the art of logic. Your article is thin and slanted on those accounts and it’s definitely not inspiring. Evidently 1945’s staff writers don’t follow its own mission. Thanks for enlightening me about “1945”. In the future, I’ll just scroll past their writers and spend my time reading articles from publications that educate and inspire with facts, not cherry-picked conspiracy opinions.
Techadopted
March 4, 2023 at 9:52 pm
It’s fascinating to watch the depths self-proclaimed conservatives will stoop to in looking for ways to distract and redirect the public’s view from the flaws of its own toward the flaws of their opponents.
To compare Biden to Trump, for example, this writer has pointed to Biden’s misdeeds in college which have been in the public docket for many years, and for which he has directly acknowledged and dealt with. Yet when contrasted with Trump, whom the writer didn’t really mention except for one of his typical childish labels, who went out of his way to prevent ANY public access to his college transcripts and who threatened legal action if anyone spoke on the record about his academic history; whose lies, while president, were tabulated in real time in the Washington Post and numbered in the tens of thousands; and who created and promoted the Big Lie when it was clear he would not earn a second term from the electorate, the idea that it’s somehow NOT acceptable NOW for a President to lie or to have lied during his past is rather ludicrous, don’t you think?
Les
March 4, 2023 at 11:58 pm
Doesn’t change my mind a bit about President Biden. Will still vote for him since he is actually doing his job unlike Trump. President Biden is a good man and a good president. Enough with the right wing cancel culture nonsense. The past is the past and seldom defines the person that stands before you now.
Phil Layshio
March 5, 2023 at 5:06 am
Fake news. Everybody knows you can’t trust these bush-league media fools. All they do is lie.
DanteFitzgibbons
March 5, 2023 at 10:27 am
Charles Ware, you sir, are a political retard… I was brushing shoulders with these assholes when I was in the service… It’s been pay-to-play since at LEAST the Clinton Administration…. Using spies and spy programs against Americans including U.S. politicians, and news anchors since at LEAST the Clinton Administration. Feeding us a bunch of crap for years about how great Democrats are and how awesome their ideas and bills they bring up are. Let’s not forget about NAFTA… ‘Nother Afternoon Fucking The American taxpayer’s Ass. Or the slew of Republicans who were ousted from their posts and replaced by fucktard Democrats. Let’s not forget the ones who were fine then all of a sudden they go into cardiac arrest and died when they were perfectly healthy. I’m sighting specifically the original head of Breitbart News outlet… Because Obama didn’t like what they ran over there… Heaven forbid you report on anything that makes Democrats look bad by trying to bring or by bringing their mountainous, traitorous misdeeds to light. Learn about your history. And by the way… Trump was\is a trillion times better than the last 3 pieces of shit the Democrats put into the Oval Office combined. Democrats destroy the country… Republicans just need to quit picking on the gay community and taking their rights away except for the “Brokeback Mountain” graphic novels they’re trying to put in schools which is obvious they’re trying to groom people, kids no less, en mass so I understand that. Go get your dildo, turn on your and fuck yourself before you go posting B.S. like what you posted… I didn’t even finish reading it because I didn’t need to. Go kill yourself or start paying more attention please.
Pay Gordon
March 5, 2023 at 10:28 am
Your article is a snapshot of Biden’s corrupt nature. He has consistently lied, and when caught, dismissed his lies. He even has his press secretary lying for him. That the crime spike America is experiencing is a result of Republican policies, yet it has been he and his party pushing for defund police movements, no bail policies, supporting rioters during the BLM movement and of course his own family’s corruption. His big lie was that American was somehow no longer great during his election. America was stronger than it had ever been despite the ravaging of a pandemic for two years. Inflation continued to be lower than it had ever been in history, less than 3% year over year, fuel prices were low, much lower than today. Then came Biden who undid every single Trump legislation that protected the American economy and massive inflation resulted across all sectors. He shamefully abandoned allies in Afghanistan, the list goes on and on. Great article!
DanteFitzgibbons
March 5, 2023 at 10:34 am
I forgot to mention in the 70s Joe Biden actually tried to push for schools to be segregated again… What a buffoon.
Rudolph Di Massa
March 5, 2023 at 10:40 am
Amazing how many of you who comment are so willing to dismiss the lies of a proven liar. Had Joe — or any other politician — been working in the private sector and been caught lying on his resume’, he would most likely have been fired on the spot. Many of us appear to have become calloused to the abhorrent and unethical behavior of people who have been elected to serve us. And rather than confront these liars and hold them accountable, we make excuses for them; we deflect; we resort to our own grade school behavior with comments akin to “I know you are, but what am I?” You people unwilling to confront the liars — and hold them accountable — deserve what you get.
Bo Worthington
March 5, 2023 at 2:33 pm
I am not surprised. What was his son really doing in Russia, etc.?
And one journalist claims there is ample reason to believe Biden had authorized the blowing up of the Nord Stream Pipeline. People in Germany and France, two big allies of the USA are paying high prices for energy now… Such as natural gas, etc., from American companies.
If true this is a War Crime? I agree with that statement. Joe… Bad.
RCD
March 5, 2023 at 5:20 pm
A Washington Examiner writer finds Joe Lies; shock, gasp, horror. In four years under Donald Trump the US set a new world standard for lying, but now he is all concerned about lying! A ridiculous news story, from a writer who is desperate to find something, anything to complain about Joe Biden. BTW, Senile Joe stood up to ex KGB Dictator Putin, Something POTUS 45 would never have done, as he would be too busy kissing Putins buttock.
Michael Clodfelter
March 6, 2023 at 4:14 pm
I am not surprised by the idiocy of some the respondents. It seems since Trump was president our country is mired in conspiracy theories, total fabrication of the truth, investigations, violence at a level we have never seen in our country. I stood there slacked jawed as I watched our nation’s capital attacked at his direction. Using someone else’s words in a speech hardly a lie (not Cited). The angry nature of such statements in this forum is an indicator of the deplorables still rejecting any and all evidence Trump lost
Donald E Aldinger
March 6, 2023 at 6:36 pm
In 2006 we enjoyed a very nice evening and dinner with Beau Biden, son of Joe Biden, at the Scalessca’s Italian Restaurant in Wilmington, Delaware. The one comment we all remember from that evening is Beau Biden stating, “we cannot trust my father”!!
GoBackToYourInfernoDante
March 7, 2023 at 10:00 am
Dante, you need to click the unfollow button on every Q page you get your info from right now and hit some anger management classes. Yes the government has spied on it’s own people, pretty much since the get go. How is it just the Democrats fault here? You are just like Brandon here, you just talk talk talk about the other party and fail to recognize the flaws of your own party. Also, cardiac arrest happens, we’re human. No one hesitates to make any party look bad. Trump was a complete moron, and also would not stop lying. If you read this article and go, yeah, Biden keeps lying, how can you possibly not critique your own and see that he did the SAME EXACT THING. Until people stop with this crap nothing will change. Democrats destroy the country? Politicians in office too long destroy the country, not just the party you dislike. Also, no one is trying to groom anyone for anything except to be more understanding of other life choices then you find in an outdated book (that would be the Bible if you couldn’t figure that out). Is Biden the right answer for America? No, but neither is your lord and savior Trump. They are both old morons, and judging by the way you ended your comment, so are you.
Ted
March 8, 2023 at 7:52 pm
This is the probably the weakest writing that I have ever seen published. As stated above, Trump is a chronic pathological liar. If his lips are moving he is lying.
Trump destroyed the constitution and democracy in the US and tried to do so in other countries as well.
It is well documented that Putin interfered with the 2016 election and that is why Trump was in office.
Sad when you write that plagiarism by Biden, matches with Trumps crimes. Trump will be in jail soon and that will be the end of him.
Fred Wulff
March 8, 2023 at 11:13 pm
Do senile people know the difference between lies and the truth, or they are just anti US/
PubliusHamilton
March 9, 2023 at 3:30 am
Democrats are in full blown panic mode and as such are exposing their tyrannical nature. Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts, Eleanor Clift et al were laughing and shaking their heads at the lying buffoon Joe Biden in 1987. The world is now picking up where they left off. God help us..
David
March 9, 2023 at 9:00 am
It is easy to see by the above comments, that those on the left hate Trump about the same as those on the right hate Biden. Each side basically accuses the other of virtually the same things. Government has become a clown show, and the clowns are robbing the citizens blind and killing them in very large numbers. The masses will eventually wake up and rise up, and that time cannot come too soon. I think it is starting now.
John Lawton
March 9, 2023 at 5:04 pm
It’s sad in the present state of dishonest American “journalism” that an opinion like the above is NOT annotated as being an opinion. I’m neither for nor against Joe Biden, but just try to ignore him as much as I can. If we needed him, then we needed him most to run in 2016 and prevent Trump from, with Russian help, being elected.
Please, kids, note: the above is not factual reporting but what is commonly called “opinion”!!!
C. Moore Butts
March 9, 2023 at 9:58 pm
I was actually expecting Lies told by Joe Biden. I actually read a “soft attack of Biden”. The same BS we see every day on the Democrat/China Controlled Mainstream Media.
When you actually list the lies of Biden, hell will be frozen over.
Keep on getting your misinformation from Dem propaganda and China.
C C
March 10, 2023 at 2:14 pm
I’m sick of these so called news clips that only badmouth Joe Biden. If ya can’t say anything decent about the President of the USA THEN KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!