Biden lies about giving his uncle a purple heart, which his uncle never received

Biden lies about giving his uncle a purple heart, which his uncle never received

Joe Biden falsely claimed yesterday that after he was elected Vice President, he awarded his Uncle Frank with a Purple Heart. None of that is true — Biden’s uncle died in 1999, and didn’t receive a Purple Heart, while Biden wasn’t elected Vice President until 2008.

The New York Post reports:

President Biden claimed Friday that his uncle Frank Biden won the Purple Heart for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II — but there’s no evidence of the award and key details of the story are chronologically impossible.

The 80-year-old commander-in-chief has a habit of sharing false or embellished personal anecdotes to build a connection with his audiences and told his latest apparent tall tale during largely unscripted remarks to veterans in Delaware.

“My dad, when I got elected vice president [in 2008], he said, ‘Joey, Uncle Frank fought in the Battle of the Bulge.’ He was not feeling very well now — not because of the Battle of the Bulge, but he said, ‘and he won the Purple Heart and he never received it. He never got it. Do you think you could help him get it? We will surprise him,’” the president recalled.

“So I got him the Purple Heart. He had won it in the Battle of the Bulge. And I remember he came over the house and I came out and [my father] said, ‘Present it to him, okay?’ We had the family there,” Biden went on.

“I said, ‘Uncle Frank, you’ve won this and I wanted to —’ and he said, ‘I don’t want the damn thing.’ No, I’m serious, he said, ‘I don’t want it.’ I said, ‘What’s the matter, Uncle Frank? You earned it.’ He said, ‘Yeah, but the others died. The others died. I lived. I don’t want it.’”

Biden told the story apparently to make a point about the humility of veterans, but the known facts indicate it’s not true…..Biden made other dubious remarks Friday, including telling veterans that “twice as president” he had been “in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq and those areas” — despite never visiting Afghanistan and Iraq as president and getting no closer than the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, almost 300 miles from the Iraqi border.

Biden has told lies repeatedly for decades, and he had to end his first presidential campaign in 1987 due to a scandal involving plagiarism of speeches and a law school paper. Biden falsely claimed in speeches back then that “my ancestors … worked in the coal mines of Northeast Pennsylvania and would come up after 12 hours and play football for four hours.” In reality, Biden’s family did not mine coal.

Biden famously lied in 1987 when he claimed that he “graduated with three degrees from college,” was named “the outstanding student in the political science department,” “went to law school on a full academic scholarship — the only one in my class to have a full academic scholarship” and ”ended up in the top half” of his class. None of those claims were true. He graduated near the bottom of his law school class.

In May, Biden made a false claim at the Naval Academy, about supposedly being appointed to the Naval Academy in 1965:

President Biden told graduating midshipmen at the Naval Academy Friday that he applied to the school in 1965 — but a quick check of his biography shows problems with the story.

Biden said he applied to Annapolis with a letter from then-Delaware Sen. J. Caleb Boggs, but the year he cited — 1965 — is the same year he graduated from the University of Delaware. The academy doesn’t offer graduate degrees.

“I was told the Class of ’72 is here. I was appointed to the academy in 1965 by a senator…”

The US military was heavily involved in the Vietnam War by the mid-1960s and had Biden attended the academy, he would have had to serve in the Navy upon graduation.

Biden received five student draft deferments during his four years at the University of Delaware and subsequent three years at Syracuse University College of Law.

After Biden graduated law school in 1968, he reportedly was deemed unfit for military service by citing childhood asthma. His memoir doesn’t mention the condition while describing his football exploits or his work as a lifeguard. A report released in November by his doctor also doesn’t mention asthma.

Last year, Biden told Jewish leaders that he remembered “spending time at” and “going to” the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh after the mass murder of 11 people in 2018. But he never visited the synagogue.

In September, Biden falsely told people in Idaho that he received his “first job offer” from a local business, Boise Cascade. This was contradicted by the company, and Biden had never described any interest in moving to Idaho.

This January, Biden told students of historically black colleges in Atlanta that he was arrested while engaging in a civil rights protest — which again was not true.

In 2020, Biden falsely claimed he “had the great honor of being arrested” in South Africa when he was “trying to get to see [Nelson Mandela] on Robbens [sic] Island,” where Mandela was imprisoned until 1990. He claimed Mandela thanked him for it. Later, Biden admitted that was not true.

LU Staff

LU Staff

Promoting and defending liberty, as defined by the nation’s founders, requires both facts and philosophical thought, transcending all elements of our culture, from partisan politics to social issues, the workings of government, and entertainment and off-duty interests. Liberty Unyielding is committed to bringing together voices that will fuel the flame of liberty, with a dialogue that is lively and informative.

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