Joe Biden on Friday addressed the US Naval Academy’s Class of 2022 graduation and commissioning ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland.
Biden’s speech was full of lies and gaffes – as usual.
Joe Biden falsely claimed he applied to the Naval Academy in 1965 – the same year he graduated from the University of Delaware near the bottom of his class.
“I was told the Class of ’72 is here. I was appointed to the academy in 1965 by a senator who I was running against in 1972 — never planned it that way. I wasn’t old enough to be sworn in. I was only 29 years old when I was running,” Biden told the graduating class of midshipmen.
Biden continued his rambling, “He was a fine man. His name is J. Caleb Boggs. I didn’t come to the academy because I wanted to be a football star. And you had a guy named [Roger] Staubach and [Joe] Bellino here. So I went to Bellino and Staubach are the only two Navy football players to win the Heisman Trophy as the best college football players in America. Bellino won the award in 1960, while Staubach did so in 1963.”
“But all kidding aside,” Biden continued, “the best line of the debate was after it’s all over, the announcer, the questioner — who was a good guy, but supported my opponent, who was a good man as well, I might add — and he said, ‘Sen. Boggs, is there anything else you want to say?’ And he said, ‘Yes, just one thing.’ And he took the microphone. He said, ‘You know, Joe, if you accepted my commission to the — my appointment to the academy,’ he said, ‘you’d still have one year and three months’ active duty and I’d have no problems right now.’”
Joe Biden is a legend in his own mind.
This never happened.
WATCH:
According to The New York Post, the dates just don’t add up:
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.
It’s unclear if Biden has told the story before, but it surprised political journalists who have covered his many campaigns and his presidency. Biden’s 2008 autobiography “Promises to Keep” does not mention the Naval Academy.
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.
Biden has a habit of seeking to relate to his audiences by sharing questionable anecdotes about his personal experiences — as well as making false or exaggerated claims.
Partial transcription via The New York Post