President Trump has been lambasted by the media over what is perceived to be a habit of lying and misleading the public. While there is no question that he speaks in hyperbolic terms and has a tendency to manipulate the facts, I am not sure that makes him much different than any other politician (at least in that regard). One such politician is 2020 democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who has been accused of exaggerating and plagiarizing on more than one occasion throughout his political and academic careers, dating all the way back to his freshmen year of law school. In fact, these past instances were enough to spoil his 1988 run for president, which makes his 2020, Warren G. Harding ‘Return to Normalcy’ campaign thoroughly ironic. Considering a substantial part of the voting electorate was not born when these events occurred, it is worth revisiting them as Biden’s lack of honesty may not be as incomparable from that of the current Commander-in-Chief as one might think.
Questions surrounding Mr. Biden’s truthfulness first came to light when he plagiarized parts of his Iowa debate speech from British Prime Minister candidate, Neil Kinnock. As described in a 1987 New York Times article:
In the commercial, the Briton began, ”Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university?” Then pointing to his wife in the audience, he continued: ”Why is Glenys the first woman in her family in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Was it because all our predecessors were thick?”
Senator Biden began his remarks by saying the ideas had come to him spontaneously on the way to the debate. ”I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university?” he said. Then, pointing to his wife, he continued: ”Why is it that my wife who is sitting out there in the audience is the first in her family to ever go to college? Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? Is it because I’m the first Biden in a thousand generations to get a college and a graduate degree that I was smarter than the rest?”
In his speech, Mr. Kinnock, an orator of great eloquence, rhetorically asked why his ancestors, Welsh coal miners, did not get ahead as fast as he. ”Did they lack talent?” he asked, in his lilting rhythm. ”Those people who could sing and play and recite and write poetry? Those people who could make wonderful beautiful things with their hands? Those people who could dream dreams, see visions? Why didn’t they get it? Was it because they were weak? Those people who could work eight hours underground and then come up and play football? Weak?”
Senator Biden’s Irish relations, it would seem, were similar, though they seemed to stay underground longer.
”Those same people who read poetry and wrote poetry and taught me how to sing verse?” continued Mr. Biden, whose father was a Chevrolet dealer in Wilmington. ”Is it because they didn’t work hard? My ancestors, who worked in the coal mines of Northeast Pennsylvania and would come up after 12 hours and play football for four hours?”
To be clear, it is not unusual for politicians to borrow from one another while giving speeches but typically proper credit is given. In this case, no sources were cited. And to make matters worse, in the days following the debate, Biden seemed to imply in an interview that he abandoned the planned speech provided by his advisors and improvised Kinnock’s routine himself, saying:
”I could tell when I was doing my close – that whole audience was absolute dead hushed silence. You can tell when you have it all. And the reason it worked there was, I was the last one. And I decided, I have no close. I didn’t have a closing. I’m walking in and they’re saying, ‘You’re going to this debate,’ and I said, ‘I don’t like this stuff you’ve written for me.’ ”It fit to do that there.”
The claim that he ad-libbed the speech, along with the fact that he bragged about its effectiveness, certainly did not help and is what ultimately began to sow the seeds of distrust amongst the American public. Accusations of plagiarism were soon accompanied by accusations of dishonesty after his campaign could not provide evidence that anybody in his family ever worked as a coalminer nor was he the first in his family to attend college.
Less than a month after the Iowa state fair debate, a report surfaced that Biden, while in college, had been called before the disciplinary board at Syracuse University College of Law to address charges of plagiarism. A couple days after this incident became public, Biden released a 65-page document that he had obtained from the University that showed all of his academic records at Syracuse College of Law. It also detailed the plagiarism incident, confirming that he had ”used five pages from a published law review article without quotation or attribution” and that faculty had recommended that he fail the class. According to the document, he was ultimately given the opportunity to retake the class the following semester and have the previous grade stricken after he wrote a letter to the faculty admitting that he was wrong but explaining that his infraction was unintentional and not meant to be malevolent.
He released this document with the intent of addressing the issue head-on and underscoring his openness and transparency. Unfortunately for Biden, the release of his academic records backfired as he had been emphasizing his academic aptitude on the campaign trail, claiming that he finished in the top half of his class and that he had received a full academic scholarship. By releasing his true academic records, he exposed that he had actually received a partial scholarship and had finished 76th in his class of 85. The New York Times even highlighted the fact that in his first three semesters he received all C’s and D’s with the exception of two A’s in physical education classes, an F in R.O.T.C., and a B in a class about famous English writers, which is quite rich considering the charges of plagiarism that would be levied against him both in the near and distant future.
Other allegations of lying surfaced, for example, his boasts on the campaign trail of being a civil rights marcher were exposed as untrue. According to the New York Times, he told this fib often even though his aides had repeatedly requested that he stop.
While confronting the allegations Biden seemed to double down and blame the press, saying:
”I exaggerate when I’m angry, but I’ve never gone around telling people things that aren’t true about me. I think it’s typical of what’s going on when the press goes on a feeding frenzy and campaigns are looking to boost their own advantage by undermining somebody else”
Although he is capable of putting it forth in a slightly more elegant manner, Biden is essentially responding to these allegations of dishonesty and exaggeration in the same manner that President Trump did. By blaming bias, the partisanship of others, and attacking the press. It may not be as blunt, it may not be as aggressive, but the message is the same. Trump’s infamous dismissal of media criticism as “fake news” has been widely viewed as problematic as it has made it very easy for him and his base to reject any negative reports coming from mainstream media.
As Biden hits the campaign trail in preparation of the 2020 election he seems to be the same old Joe. He has already made multiple gaffes such as claiming that he will cure cancer if elected and, most recently, recalling a more civil time in politics by evoking his relationships with known Democratic segregationists James O. Eastland and Herman Talmadge. The latter putting him firmly in the cross hairs of his fellow democratic presidential candidates. If these types of blunders were enough to ruin his ’88 run for President, they are sure to do even more damage in this day and age of social media. Presidential candidates just cannot stray from the truth as the internet makes it too easy for any ordinary person to fact-check. The reality is that those that aren’t happy with President Trump’s character flaws (which are plentiful) are going to be looking for a candidate of integrity, honesty and high moral fiber and Joe Biden is just not that guy. While his ideas and policies may be on the opposite end of the political spectrum, his long history of plagiarism, exaggeration, and dishonesty are too analogous to the current president to make him an appealing option.
