In a recent speech to Jewish leaders, President Joe Biden claimed that he met with members of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue following the 2018 mass shooting attack which killed 11 people and injured six others. However, according to the executive director of the congregation, the visit never happened.
“I remember spending time at the — you know, going to the — you know, the Tree of Life Synagogue, speaking with the — just — it just is amazing these things are happening — happening in America,” Biden said during a “virtual call for the Jewish High Holidays.”
As the New York Post noted, Barb Feirge, executive director of the Tree of Life, “said that Biden did not visit the synagogue in the nearly three years since the anti-Semitic attack.”
“In a phone interview, Feige, executive director since July 2019, said firmly that ‘no’ Biden didn’t visit, even before taking office when he had a lower public profile as a former vice president and then-Democratic presidential candidate,” the New York Post reported.
It does appear that Biden’s campaign issued a statement on the second anniversary of the 2018 attack:
Two years ago, a white supremacist entered Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue and perpetrated the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history. Eleven innocent lives were taken that Shabbat morning, ripped away from their families by a lone gunman taking longtime forces of bigotry and prejudice to their violent conclusion. This act of terror was not only an assault against the Jewish community of Pittsburgh — it was a strike against the soul of our nation and the values for which America stands.
Today, the pain remains. For the families of Tree of Life, New Light, and Dor Hadash, the grief will never fully subside. In the two years since, we have witnessed the courage and resilience of these congregations — responding to their most profound moment of fear and despair with purpose, compassion, and love.
When anti-Semitism is allowed to fester, it shreds the fabric of our communities and erodes our soul. We must stand up and speak out whenever and wherever it rears its head, because silence can become complicity. If we are ever to reach our full potential as a nation, we must banish hatred, bigotry, and conspiratorial fanaticism to the dustbin of history — and choose a path of dignity and respect for all people.
On behalf of Jill, Kamala, Doug, and our families, we stand with the people of Squirrel Hill, the entire Pittsburgh community, and all Jewish Americans on this solemn anniversary. May the memories of the victims forever be a blessing.
While the apparent false claims by Biden are shocking enough given the gravity of the 2018 attacks in isolation, it’s important to understand that such “creativity” is far from isolated.
A standard google search provides examples of Biden making false claims. These include claiming that he was an “all-star player” at a Congressional baseball game, rewriting his academic credentials, or claiming that the driver of the vehicle that killed his first wife and young daughter was drunk at the time.
The issue here, therefore, is not just the fact that the President of the United States feels comfortable enough to “bend the truth” on a daily basis, but that such behavior is tolerated by both the electorate and the legacy media. After all, Biden has been reconstructing reality as required for decades, with obvious success as a consequence.