In an address delivered in Milwaukee on Tuesday, President Joe Biden served up a trifecta of whoppers about his personal history, once again casting a large shadow on his credibility.
While the bulk of the speech centered on the economy and the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act he signed into law, his claims took an unexpected detour into the realm of fiction.
A master of embellishment, Biden peppered his prepared economic address with three false personal anecdotes, raising eyebrows and highlighting his propensity for inaccurate ad-libbing when it comes to his own biography.
Amtrak Anecdotes and Joe Biden
Known for his affinity for Amtrak, the train service that ferried him between Washington and his Delaware home during his 36 years as a senator, Biden’s Tuesday tale revolved around a supposed conversation with an Amtrak conductor named Angelo Negri during his vice presidency.
According to CNN, this conversation could not have taken place, as Negri had already passed away by the time Biden’s account would have occurred.
In this retelling, Biden claimed that during his vice presidency, he encountered a headline boasting his 1.2 million miles of travel on Air Force planes.
In an encounter with Negri, Biden alleged he was informed of his extensive Amtrak travel, culminating in a punchline that drew applause from the crowd.
Yet, the details don’t check out: Biden didn’t reach the million-mile mark in air travel until after Negri’s death, and his mother was not ailing at the time as he suggested.
It’s a story marred by false timelines and conveniently spun facts, leaving his audience entertained but misled.
Debt vs. Deficit
Biden reiterated a misleading claim about reducing the federal debt by $1.7 trillion during his first two years in office.
However, a subtle correction in the official transcript replaced “debt” with “deficit,” implicitly admitting the fallacy.
The national debt has swelled during his presidency, a far cry from his boasts.
Furthermore, Biden’s role in the deficit decline remains dubious, as it was primarily driven by the conclusion of pandemic spending measures from the previous administration rather than his policies.
As CNN highlighted, the White House wiped Biden’s error from the official transport.
Grandfather’s Passing
Continuing his reel of personal yarns, Biden recounted a tale of his paternal grandfather’s death in a hospital just days before his own birth.
A heartwarming sentiment, if only it were true. However, as the New York Post pointed out in April, the claim fell flat.
His paternal grandfather passed away over a year before Biden’s birth, and not in the hospital where Joe Biden made the claim. Such factual blunders erode the trust viewers place in his stories.
Claims He Witnessed Bridge Collapse
In an attempt to bolster his administration’s infrastructure endeavors, Biden invoked a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh from 2022.
Yet, his dramatic recounting of personally witnessing the event doesn’t hold water.
The bridge had already collapsed hours before his arrival, making it impossible for him to have been an eyewitness to the disaster. A case of reality paling in comparison to the fiction spun by the President.
Joe Biden’s Notorious Gaffes
President Joe Biden’s history of such slip-ups is well-documented, with instances of verbal and physical blunders during his time in office.
Despite attributing some of these mistakes to his speech impediment, critics, including former President Donald Trump, have used them to question his mental competence.
In 1987 his first Presidential bid stumbled after a speech heavily plagiarized by then British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnok.
In June 2023, Joe Biden mistakenly referred to the ongoing war in Ukraine as the war in Iraq.
He claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “clearly losing the war in Iraq,” a statement that raised eyebrows.
In the same month, Biden closed a speech on gun control with the phrase “God save the Queen, man.”
The odd reference left observers puzzled about whether he meant the Late Queen Elizabeth II or Queen Camilla.
In July 2022 Joe Biden was mocked for reading teleprompter instructions aloud during a speech at the White House, leading to ridicule and questions about his leadership abilities.
Last October he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “great president” instead of vice president during an event, repeating a similar mistake made in a birthday message.
With a growing trail of debunked tales, it remains to be seen whether the President will set the record straight or continue weaving his own version of reality. The White House remained tight-lipped about these factual distortions, leaving the public to ponder the fine line between fact and fiction in the Biden narrative.
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
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