# Biden arrested trying see Nelson Mandela? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 26, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523 "2020-02-26T00:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/1 "2020-02-26T00:42:41Z")
> **[Ex-ambassador disputes Biden story of getting arrested during South Africa visit](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/ex-ambassador-disputes-biden-story-of-getting-arrested-during-south-africa-visit)** > > A former U.S. ambassador said he can't recall Joe Biden getting arrested during a visit to South Africa in the 1970s, which the vice president and presidential candidate has claimed in recent weeks. Is there any truth at all to this? Is there anything resembling any sort of truth in this? Wouldn’t that have been a major international incident for South Africa to arrest a sitting United States Senator? If this seems to be bullshit, why is Biden continuing to bullshit in this modern day when anything can be checked? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/2 "2020-02-26T00:54:08Z")
If it really happened, I can’t imagine something like that not being all over the news… ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/3 "2020-02-26T01:45:53Z")
Washington Post says [it’s “ridiculous”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/25/bidens-ridiculous-claim-he-was-arrested-trying-see-mandela/). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/4 "2020-02-26T01:53:45Z")
Andrew Young says it never happened, and Biden didn’t mention it in the passage in his memoir about his visit to South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/5 "2020-02-26T02:49:38Z")
Biden’s clearly failing… to keep up with the lies of his prospective Republican opponent. He needs to up his game. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/6 "2020-02-26T04:22:44Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Is there any truth at all to this? Is there anything resembling any sort of truth in this? Wouldn’t that have been a major international incident for South Africa to arrest a sitting United States Senator? > > If this seems to be bullshit, why is Biden continuing to bullshit in this modern day when anything can be checked? I can see that honesty and personal integrity are important issues with you. So here’s what I recommend; next November you vote for the candidate who has told the fewest lies. ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/7 "2020-02-26T12:56:17Z")
Considering Robben Island is in Cape Town, over a thousand miles from Soweto, I doubt the police would need to do any arresting or even care. And of course it’s an island, a very small one, completely isolated and secured. There was no way to get there without government consent, none at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/8 "2020-02-26T17:13:29Z")
His surrogates are saying that he was “detained” for not going in a different line than the black caucus he was with until they found a workaround. They aren’t saying how long he was detained. If that’s true, then he’s stretching the definition of “arrested” by quite a bit. I personally think this never happened and that he’s lying, or that he is really so mentally gone that he’s mistaking a story he heard for his own experience. Either way, I think saying this was a bad move. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/9 "2020-02-26T19:42:03Z")
Careful, there, you might be seen as casting doubt on the pristine veracity of the _Washington Examiner_! ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/10 "2020-02-26T20:36:32Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > I personally think this never happened and that he’s lying, or that he is really so mentally gone that he’s mistaking a story he heard for his own experience. He also claims [150 million Americans have been killed by gun violence since 2007](https://www.newsweek.com/biden-says-over-150-million-americans-killed-gun-violence-since-2007-which-would-third-us-1489115). That averages over 31,000 people per day, and would be half the population. I’m wondering if it’s (mild) early onset dementia. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/11 "2020-02-26T21:50:34Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > He also claims [150 million Americans have been killed by gun violence since 2007](https://www.newsweek.com/biden-says-over-150-million-americans-killed-gun-violence-since-2007-which-would-third-us-1489115). That averages over 31,000 people per day, and would be half the population. I’m wondering if it’s (mild) early onset dementia. Eh, I think he just flubbed “millions” when he meant “thousands” while speaking. I don’t think this is evidence of much of anything. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/12 "2020-02-27T01:21:23Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > His surrogates are saying that he was “detained” for not going in a different line than the black caucus he was with until they found a workaround. They aren’t saying how long he was detained. > > If that’s true, then he’s stretching the definition of “arrested” by quite a bit. > > I personally think this never happened and that he’s lying, or that he is really so mentally gone that he’s mistaking a story he heard for his own experience. Either way, I think saying this was a bad move. Where was this? On Robben Island? They let a whole U.S. delegation visit Mandela but the visiting room was segregated? ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/13 "2020-02-27T01:40:48Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Where was this? On Robben Island? They let a whole U.S. delegation visit Mandela but the visiting room was segregated? Not sure where either. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/14 "2020-02-27T01:46:43Z")
From the WaPo article: > [@](#): > > Young is a former Atlanta mayor who supports fellow former mayor Mike Bloomberg but considers Biden a friend. He speculated that Biden was mixing up stories about congressional delegations that would fly into Lesotho, a landlocked country surrounded by South Africa. He said he believed he traveled on at least three trips with Biden when he was a member of Congress. > > Young said that on one trip, “we were not jailed, but we were retained by South Africa police,” who would not let the lawmakers get back to a military base in Lesotho so they could board their plane. A colonel finally came and sorted everything out. Young, with a laugh, recalled that then-Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), who headed the delegation, “got pretty worked up about it.” His elaboration of an incident like this into being arrested trying to see Mandela is pretty eye-rolly, but it’s not like he made it up out of whole cloth. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/15 "2020-02-27T14:37:25Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > … Is there any truth at all to this? … I’m trying to keep up-to-date with modern lingo, but my dictionary shows “Truth” as an archaism. Google Books Ngram Viewer shows that, except for a brief resurgence from 1866 to 1872, the use of “truth” has been declining steadily since 1846. Google does come up with some old usages: > [@St. John](#): > > Pilate saith unto him, “What is truth?” And when he said this, he went out again to the Jews and saith to them: “I find no cause in him.” > [@Eric Arthur Blair](#): > > If, for example, Eurasia or Eastasia (whichever it may be) is the enemy today, then that country must always have been the enemy. And if the facts say otherwise then the facts must be altered. Thus history is continuously rewritten. This day-to-day falsification of the past, carried out by the Ministry of Truth, is as necessary to the stability of the regime as the work of repression and espionage carried out by the Ministry of Love. … but these still leave me confused. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I can see that honesty and personal integrity are important issues with you. So here’s what I recommend; next November you vote for the candidate who has told the fewest lies. This wasn’t addressed to me, but I’ll take the pledge. Others? ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Kearsen1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen1)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/16 "2020-02-27T15:00:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I can see that honesty and personal integrity are important issues with you. So here’s what I recommend; next November you vote for the candidate who has told the fewest lies. Personally, it’s less about the lie and more about the general stupidity of lying about something so easily checked. Before I get jumped on for excusing Trump for lying or being stupid, it is entirely possible to hold both in contempt for stupidity and lying. Also, “they do it too!” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/17 "2020-02-27T16:34:59Z")
Yes, they are both liars. Also, an elephant and a mouse are both mammals. Which is bigger? (Take your time, think it over, you got this…) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/18 "2020-02-27T16:40:34Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > [Ex-ambassador disputes Biden story of getting arrested during South Africa visit - Washington Examiner](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/ex-ambassador-disputes-biden-story-of-getting-arrested-during-south-africa-visit) > > Is there any truth at all to this? Is there anything resembling any sort of truth in this? Wouldn’t that have been a major international incident for South Africa to arrest a sitting United States Senator? > > If this seems to be bullshit, why is Biden continuing to bullshit in this modern day when anything can be checked? [Consider the source.](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/washington-examiner/) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/19 "2020-02-27T17:05:10Z")
So, did the “Christian” Right buy out the Moonies, or round them up and execute them? Make a great mini-series… ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523/20 "2020-02-27T18:14:50Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So, did the “Christian” Right buy out the Moonies, or round them up and execute them? Make a great mini-series… The Moonies own _Washington Times_. Although The _Washington Examiner_ has hired some of the better _Times_ writers, it’s owned by hyper-Christian multi-billionaire Philip Anschutz: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Anschutz donated to conservative causes and groups that are openly antigay, anti-transgender, and pro-life… > Anschutz funds groups that advocate pseudoscientific concepts and viewpoints. He is a frequent donor to think tanks and corporate front groups that promote climate change denial, such as the Discovery Institute, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Heritage Foundation, the Pacific Research Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, the Mercatus Center, America’s Future Foundation, the Claremont Institute, DonorsTrust, the National Chamber Foundation and The Philanthropy Foundation. I forget the name for the ploy (“bait and switch”?) but the idea is that with the _Moonie Times_ acting like fringe-nuts, the _Examiner_ can aspire to seem moderate. A good rule of thumb, I think, is that the truthy(_) U.S. newspapers — NY Times, Washington Post, WSJ — charge to be read, while the lying newspapers are happy to spread bullshit for free. (_ - I’m using “truthy” in its archaic sense of “relating to facts; characterized by accuracy.”) I’m too lazy to turn off Javascript or keep killing cookies, so I get my news from Reuters, Aljazeera, etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biden-arrested-trying-see-nelson-mandela/848523.md?page=2)