# Did Biden once lie about his college career? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 10, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510 "2020-05-10T03:20:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/1 "2020-05-10T03:20:26Z")
Here is an old video going around where they point out that Biden lied about college: [LINK](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SjrpfCp30k&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR2a1STnV9ioI6Gc4rXMIqa7dHVqnc_P4rzs2oLtdhCVF_je5-RJuuo7OPo) Biden basically is caught bragging about his college scholarship and his academic rating. I cant tell but it looks to be around 8-10 years old. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/2 "2020-05-10T03:32:31Z")
I’d be surprised if that clip is only 8 or ten years old. Biden looks quite a bit younger than he looks now. He was campaigning in New Hampshire. It could be 2012, but it sounds more like he’s campaigning for himself so it’s more likely 2008 or even for the 1988 election. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/3 "2020-05-10T03:33:47Z")
I’d be surprised if that clip is only 8 or ten years old. Biden looks quite a bit younger than he looks now. He was campaigning in New Hampshire. It could be 2012, but it sounds more like he’s campaigning for himself so it’s more likely 2008 or even for the 1988 election. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/4 "2020-05-10T04:23:42Z")
That’s got to be 1987, probably more stuff from the Dukakis campaign. I don’t give a damn what Biden or Trump did in college. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/5 "2020-05-10T04:30:44Z")
In a recent article in Counterpunch, [If Trump is a Pathological Liar, What Type of Liar is Biden?](https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/05/01/if-trump-is-a-pathological-liar-what-type-of-liar-is-biden/) they list, “a sampling of some—certainly not all—of Biden’s lies in a variety of areas.” Including: > [@](#): > > Attempting to make himself appear intelligent, Biden has lied about his academic record and his grades, lying about graduating in the top half of his law school class when in fact he graduated 76th in a class of 85. Then there is his infamous plagiarism that derailed his campaign to win the Democratic nomination for president in 1988. His plagiarizing of then British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock brought attention to Biden’s previous plagiarism at Syracuse University College of Law. ---
**Author:** ![pjacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@pjacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjacks)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/6 "2020-05-10T04:40:00Z")
Is there anything from the 70s that we can dig up? I feel like this 1980s stuff is just too recent to be relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/7 "2020-05-10T06:06:29Z")
> [@pjacks](#): > > Is there anything from the 70s that we can dig up? I feel like this 1980s stuff is just too recent to be relevant. Hell, let’s go back to the 60s and argue about the draft. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/8 "2020-05-10T06:20:55Z")
What the nation really needs is a further investigation into John Kerry’s actions in Vietnam…if he was actually even there. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/9 "2020-05-10T06:38:16Z")
\>\> **Did Biden once lie about his college career?** I’ll re-frame the question. Did Tramp ever NOT lie about his college career? More questions. Did Biden ever say (on a national broadcast) that he wanted to fuck his underage daughter? Did Biden ever say there are good Nazis, Klansmen, war criminals, and traitors? Did Biden ever suggest (in an official televised event) that Americans poison themselves? Did Biden ever tweet brags about obstructing justice? Putin and his puppy are scared shitless of Biden. Hence the attacks. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/10 "2020-05-10T14:18:24Z")
> [@pjacks](#): > > Is there anything from the 70s that we can dig up? I feel like this 1980s stuff is just too recent to be relevant. > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Hell, let’s go back to the 60s and argue about the draft. I think Biden once lied about his weight. And there was that time he took a few strokes off his golf score… And that time he found a 5-dollar bill on the sidewalk and just stuffed it in his pocket! Clearly an untrustworthy, pathological liar without one shred of decency and NOT Presidential material! Oh… wait… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Sdowiat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Sdowiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sdowiat)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/11 "2020-05-10T14:47:30Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > That’s got to be 1987, probably more stuff from the Dukakis campaign. > > I don’t give a damn what Biden or Trump did in college. I don’t think he’s asking whether “YOU” or any other one person in particular care. One individual person might vote for him regardless of what he’s done. He’s simply asking if it occurred and BTY, Joe was about 45 and hardly a kid at that age. It may matter to HIM or he may be concerned that it will matter to a large number of voters. YES, I think that lie has been confirmed just as the speech plagiarism committed around the same time has been confirmed. Why not just be straight up and answer his question? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/12 "2020-05-10T14:54:48Z")
You guys, you guys… I’m starting to think that this politics business is not strictly on the up and up and invites a type of person who is likely to be a bit of a bullshitter. :eek::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/13 "2020-05-10T15:55:50Z")
Is the Politics and Election page really gonna turn into the attack Biden on meaningless issues page? Let me make this clear- Biden is the nominee. Even if Biden did withdraw, his votes wouldnt go to Sanders. So the berni-bro hits on Biden are doing nothing but helping trump. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/14 "2020-05-10T16:28:54Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > What the nation really needs is a further investigation into John Kerry’s actions in Vietnam…if he was actually even there. > > Stranger Or whether George W. Bush was AWOL in the 1960’s? Or perhaps what the meaning of ‘boof’ was in Justice Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook. Then we can start an investigation into whether Mitt Romney was guilty of bullying a kid in high school, or whether he tied his dog’s crate to the roof of his car 30 years ago. In case you don’t get it, both sides have had no problem digging as far back into the past as they can if they can turn it into political advantage. This is absolutely nothing new. Also not new: Each side blusters and stamps their feet and calls foul when the other side engages in it. Also, since Biden was a grown adult and a sitting Senator at the time of these complaints, they are relevant. There is no statute of limitations on being a lousy politician. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/15 "2020-05-10T16:30:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Or whether George W. Bush was AWOL in the 1960’s? Or perhaps what the meaning of ‘boof’ was in Justice Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook. > > Then we can start an investigation into whether Mitt Romney was guilty of bullying a kid in high school, or whether he tied his dog’s crate to the roof of his car 30 years ago. > > In case you don’t get it, both sides have had no problem digging as far back into the past as they can if they can turn it into political advantage. This is absolutely nothing new. > > Also not new: Each side blusters and stamps their feet and calls foul when the other side engages in it. The beauty of the current administration is that the lies occur every day in real time! Not that we can’t also go into the archives, but there’s really no need to. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/16 "2020-05-10T17:08:42Z")
Thank God we got “both sides do it” in here. Biden has a history of embellishment and even outright plagiarism. This is not new information. He’s also handsy, and has admitted he has made women feel uncomfortable. Also not new information. Now the voters can weigh those sins against the Presidency of Donald Trump and make their decision. For a start, here is a tweet from POTUS from this morning: > [@](#): > > We are getting great marks for the handling of the CoronaVirus pandemic, especially the very early BAN of people from China, the infectious source, entering the USA. Compare that to the Obama/Sleepy Joe disaster known as H1N1 Swine Flu. Poor marks, bad polls - didn’t have a clue! Perhaps we can compare the relative mendacity of this and the video in the OP? I count at least three (maybe 4) lies in this tweet, of much more immediate import than college rankings. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/17 "2020-05-13T04:15:38Z")
You don’t even have to go back nearly that far. You have Biden this year bragging that he was arrested on the streets of South Africa attempting to visit Nelson Mandela on Robbin Island. Then in the 1990s, Mandela came to Washington, hugged Biden and thanked him for getting arrested for him. The only problem is that none of it is remotely true. He never tried to visit Mandela, and he was never arrested. During apartheid, he was not permitted to go through the same entrance door at the airport that his black companions went through, Joe refused to go through the white only door, so he stood there while the higher ups gave him a face saving way to get where he was going. The guy takes that an acts like he was Martin Luther King writing from a Birmingham jail cell. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/18 "2020-05-13T04:35:12Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I think Biden once lied about his weight. And there was that time he took a few strokes off his golf score… And that time he found a 5-dollar bill on the sidewalk and just stuffed it in his pocket! > > Clearly an untrustworthy, pathological liar without one shred of decency and NOT Presidential material! Oh… wait… :dubious: I hear he liked New Coke ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/19 "2020-05-13T04:36:34Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > … > The only problem is that none of it is remotely true. He never tried to visit Mandela, and he was never arrested. During apartheid, he was not permitted to go through the same entrance door at the airport that his black companions went through, Joe refused to go through the white only door, so he stood there while the higher ups gave him a face saving way to get where he was going. > … The fine line between “detained” and "arrested’ is something even SCOTUS and senior jurists argue about. When armed police stop you, and wont let you proceed, what is that? Biden has clarified that: > **[Biden Admits He Was 'Stopped,' Not 'Arrested,' in South Africa - FactCheck.org](https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/biden-admits-he-was-stopped-not-arrested-in-south-africa/)** > > In recent interviews, former Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged that he was wrong to say he was "arrested" while trying to visit Nelson Mandela in South Africa. He was actually "stopped" and briefly "detained," Biden said. This is 1/100 of the big fat lies trump tells every single fucking day. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510/20 "2020-05-13T05:00:45Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The fine line between “detained” and "arrested’ is something even SCOTUS and senior jurists argue about. When armed police stop you, and wont let you proceed, what is that? > > Biden has clarified that: > [Biden Admits He Was 'Stopped,' Not 'Arrested,' in South Africa - FactCheck.org](https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/biden-admits-he-was-stopped-not-arrested-in-south-africa/) Oh come on. He was in an airport in Johannesburg, not on the streets of Soweto. He was not stopped for attempting to visit Nelson Mandela on Robben Island. Both Soweto and Johannesburg are over 800 miles from Robben Island. Likewise there is no way that Mandela hugged him and thanked him for getting arrested for coming and trying to see him. So in your effort to defend Biden you want to make a distinction that one is “detained” so that is similar to arrest, when you are told not to go through door A, but please go through door B and you refuse to go through door B? If that part of the story is true, then fucking hey good for Joe Biden for standing up to apartheid that way, and it would have been a great story by itself. But that cannot be called a detention and certainly not an arrest. Biden was free to walk through the whites only door but refused on principle (and as I said, that’s great). He told them he wouldn’t do it and then the higher ups came up with a solution. That would be like me claiming I was arrested when I went to a concert because when I went to Gate 1 the guy refused me entrance and told me I needed to go to Gate 2 because of the seat number on my ticket. Should I put that “arrest” on a form that asks me the question? His story was an outright lie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-biden-once-lie-about-his-college-career/853510.md?page=2)