President Joe Biden has generated a growing list of “fibs” during his first term in the Oval Office, including some tall tales so far-fetched that even the most liberal fact-checking investigations have flagged his remarks.
Among the president’s remarks are at least five fibs that Biden can’t stop telling.
“Our policies are working… Record job creation.”
One of the president’s most recent fibs came across as an April Fool’s Day joke, especially as it was delivered during remarks given on April 1.
“Our policies are working. And we’re getting results for the American people — which is what it’s all about, to state the obvious,” Biden said.
“Record job creation. Record unemployment declines. Record wage gains,” he added.
The New York Post was quick to push back on Biden’s April Fool’s claims.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” the Post reported.
“Nominal wage gains since Biden took office have been wiped out by sky-high inflation, now around 8%. All jobs now come with a built-in pay cut that’s only going to get worse unless the prez changes course. Worse, employment will crater if he gets the tax hikes he proposes,” it continued. “And he and his administration have not created a single job.”
The nation had 152.5 million non-farm jobs in February 2020 (pre-Covid). The latest number is 150.9 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In other words, the number of jobs is still below the level of the non-farm labor force prior to the pandemic, though it is admittedly higher than during the nation’s lockdowns.
The words sounded positive, but Biden’s economy fibs are among his most common — and most inaccurate.
“I’ve been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan 40 times.”
Biden has also repeatedly fibbed about his travels, especially his time in Afghanistan and Iraq.
During his first State of the Union Address, for example, the president said, “I’ve been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan over 40 times.”
In 2019 as a presidential candidate, Biden said he had been to the two nations “over 30 times.” The Washington Post later said his campaign clarified the correct number was 21, which mostly occurred when he was a senator between 1973 and 2009.
Biden has not been to either nation in several years.
“I got arrested protesting for civil rights.”
Biden has also claimed he was arrested for protesting for civil rights. Mentioned on multiple occasions, Biden most recently made the remark during a speech in Georgia as he addressed voting rights.
“I did not walk in the shoes of generations of students who walked these grounds,” he said. “But I walked other grounds. Because I’m so damn old, I was there as well.”
The joke received laughter from his audience, with Biden adding, “You think I’m kidding, man. It seems like yesterday the first time I got arrested.”
Fact-checking organization Politifact investigated the remarks and concluded that no evidence existed of Biden being arrested over civil rights.
“We reached out to the White House to clarify what arrest he was referring to, and they pointed to excerpts from three speeches Biden has made in recent years. They addressed an incident in Delaware in the 1950s in which people gathered to protest the sale of a home to a Black couple,” Politifact reported.
“Police were called to the home as hundreds of people protested outside. There were a few arrests, but no evidence that Biden was among them,” it added.
“I’ve been against the war in Afghanistan from the very beginning.”
Afghanistan has served as one of Biden’s biggest weaknesses during his term as president. In December, the president claimed that he had been against the war in Afghanistan “from the very beginning.”
“I’ve been against that war in Afghanistan from the very beginning,” Biden told Rita Braver during a CBS’ “Sunday Morning” interview in December. “We’re spending $300 million a week in Afghanistan over 20 years.”
The facts tell a different story. In 2001, Biden voted with every other voting senator to support the Authorization for Use of Military Force bill after the attacks of 9/11.
As vice president under then-President Barack Obama in 2009, additional troops were sent to Afghanistan. Though there was some reported discussion against increased troops, Biden remained on board with America’s military presence in Iraq during his time serving under Obama.
Politifact’s investigation of the claim noted the earliest claim it could cite of Biden speaking against a military presence in Afghanistan was in 2019.
“I used to drive a tractor-trailer.”
A fifth fib repeated by Biden is his claim to be a former truck driver.
In November, the president traveled to Dakota County Technical College in Minnesota to emphasize his $1.2 trillion infrastructure package.
“I used to drive a tractor-trailer, so I know a little bit about driving big trucks,” Biden said.
In July 2021, Biden also said, “I used to drive an 18-wheeler.”
Last July while visiting the Mack Truck manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, Biden claimed “I used to drive an 18-wheeler”
Biden’s staff later admitted that he had only ever been photographed in one pic.twitter.com/PVr3xQnKhI
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 4, 2022
Earlier this month, Biden again repeated the tall tale.
“I used to drive a truck. It’s a long story.”
Biden repeats false claim he used to be a truck driver pic.twitter.com/8V95O265IW
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 4, 2022
If Biden did drive an 18-wheeler, we’d love to see the video footage or a picture. Fact-checkers have sought the evidence, but so far the claim remains at the four-Pinnochio level.
There are more, such as, “Major [the First Dog] did not bite someone and penetrate the skin,” as the New York Post investigated, or on a more humorous note, “You couldn’t buy a cannon, when, in fact, the Second Amendment was passed,” (federal gun laws came much later). These five fibs, however, show Biden’s habit of telling tall tales has served as a regular part of his rhetoric as president.