Yesterday LU’s Ben Bowles reported that presidential wannabe Joe Biden had proposed a $6.7 trillion on a climate change agenda that “borrowed” its recommendations from other sources, without attribution.
It turns out that Biden had plagiarized before, including during his 1988 run for the presidency. The Washington Post reminds us:
In his 1988 presidential bid, Joe Biden, who is now a democratic presidential candidate for 2020, plagiarized portions of speeches made by former President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) and British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. It effectively led to him dropping out of the race.
[…]
The collapse had begun 11 days earlier, with news that Biden had lifted phrases and mannerisms from a British Labour Party politician while making closing remarks at a debate. Examples soon surfaced of Biden using material from other politicians without attribution.
And it didn’t stop there. Further digging by the press (which in those days was more committed to doing its job than to shilling for the Democratic Party) determined that Biden had been accused of plagiarism in law school and of exaggerating his academic record. Speaking angrily to a voter in New Hampshire who had challenged him, Biden claimed to have gone to law school on a full academic scholarship and graduated in the top half of his class. In point of fact, he had received a partial scholarship based on need and had graduated near the bottom of his class.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Here, for those interested in a stroll down memory lane, is a Sept. 17, 1987 broadcast of the PBS NewsHour that explores the charges that ultimately forced the then-Delaware senator to withdraw his name from contention.
The question now is whether Biden’s recent episode of intellectual property theft will raise fresh questions about whether he has the moral fiber to serve the nation in its highest office.
(h/t Weasel Zippers)
