Biden's bogus college claim is just latest in decades-long pattern of embellishment

President Biden falsely claimed earlier this week that he was nan "first" personification successful his family to "go to college," continuing a decades-long wont of making mendacious aliases embellished claims astir his life.

Biden has been scrutinized respective times complete nan years for fabricating tales, including claiming to person been arrested in apartheid-era South Africa, being successful a chopper that was "forced down" by Al-Qaeda insurgents successful Afghanistan, and moreover trivial events involving an Amtrak conductor who had passed distant earlier his alleged communicative took place.

Biden continued nan inclination connected Monday while speaking successful nan battleground authorities of Wisconsin arsenic he outlined his scheme to supply "life-changing" alleviation to student indebtedness debt. 

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President Biden has a history of exaggerated tales astir his life and career. (Fox News)

"I, for illustration an atrocious batch of group successful this audience, was nan first successful my family to spell to assemblage and watched by dada struggled to thief maine get there," Biden told nan crowd.

However, little than 2 years ago, during a reside successful Pennsylvania, Biden told an assemblage that his grandfather played assemblage football.

"My grandfather Finnegan from Scranton would really beryllium proud of maine correct now,' Biden said successful Pittsburgh successful October 2022. "No, I'm not joking. He would. By nan way, he was an All-American shot subordinate [inaudible] successful Santa Clara."

When asked astir his caller comments and his embellishments passim nan years, White House lawman property caput Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital that President Biden "is proud to person restored honesty, integrity, and respect for nan norm of rule to nan Oval Office."

He added that Biden is besides proud "to beryllium nan first Biden to postgraduate college." 

Biden's exaggerations regarding colleges also extend to a erstwhile claim that he taught "political theory" astatine nan University of Pennsylvania, which he mentioned successful Maryland successful September 2023.

"Democracy is astatine stake, folks. Our populist is nether attack. And we gotta conflict for it," Biden said. "I taught astatine nan University of Pennsylvania for 4 years. And I utilized to thatch governmental theory. And folks, you ever perceive each procreation has to conflict for democracy. And I recovered myself – it's automatic, we didn't person to judge it – but we do. We do."

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Fact Checkers person deed Biden complete his stories successful nan past. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Bloomberg via Getty)

There is small to nary grounds that Biden ever taught "political theory" astatine nan University of Pennsylvania. While nan university's website notes that nan president was nan Benjamin Franklin Presidential Professor of Practice from 2017 to 2021, a Snopes.com fact-check on his erstwhile but akin declare – that he was a "full professor astatine nan University of Pennsylvania" for 4 years – recovered that "he did not thatch a semester's worthy of courses" while successful this role. 

Snopes noted that this "role was honorary" and that he "gave lectures and talks to students connected field but did not thatch a afloat semester's people load during that time."

Years before, erstwhile he ran for president successful 1987, Biden exaggerated his world grounds by bragging that he graduated "in nan apical half" of his people while berating a newsman connected nan run trail. 

"I deliberation I person a overmuch higher I.Q. than you do, I suspect," Biden told nan newsman successful New Hampshire astatine nan time. "I went to rule schoolhouse connected a afloat world scholarship, nan only 1 successful my people to person a afloat world scholarship."

"In nan first twelvemonth of rule school, I decided I didn't want to beryllium successful rule schoolhouse and ended up successful nan bottommost two-thirds of my class," he said. "And past I decided to stay, went backmost to rule school, and successful truth ended up successful nan apical half of my class."

He later admitted that he graduated 76th successful a people of 85. 

"I did not postgraduate successful nan apical half of my people astatine rule school, and my recollection of this was inaccurate," he told the New York Times.

"I graduated from nan University of Delaware pinch a double awesome successful history and governmental science," he said. "My reference to degrees astatine nan Claremont arena was intended to mention to these fields -—I said 'three' and should person said 'two.'" 

The outlet pointed retired that Biden received a azygous B.A. grade successful history and governmental science.

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Biden's gangly tales day backmost decades. (Getty Images)

Since then, Biden has told galore stories that person besides been deemed exaggerations. Mainstream outlets, including nan Washington Post, person moreover called him retired connected them, including nan publication's apical fact-checker Glenn Kessler. 

In September 2023, Kessler penned an article about really "Biden loves to retell definite stories" and really immoderate deficiency credibility. His study assembled respective of Biden's accounts, including 1 astir an Amtrak conductor he claimed hailed him connected having traveled much than 2 cardinal miles connected nan railroad, exceeding nan 1.2 cardinal miles traveled connected Air Force planes arsenic vice president arsenic of 2016. 

However, nan conductor retired successful 1993 and passed distant 2 years earlier Biden reached that milestone successful nan air. 

Other stories Kessler addressed see Biden's declare that he and his begetter saw 2 men successful suits kissing each different successful nationalist erstwhile he was a teenager, that he was arrested for trying to spot Nelson Mandela successful South Africa, and how, as vice president, he arranged for his uncle to beryllium presented a Purple Heart that he was owed and ne'er received, isolated from nan uncle died successful 1999, agelong earlier Biden was vice president. 

Biden has besides been many times called retired for his claims of being very adjacent pinch Somali cab drivers successful Wilmington, Delaware.

"Somalis person made my metropolis of Wilmington, Del. (their home) connected a smaller scale. There is simply a very identifiable Somali community," then-Vice President Biden said. "I mightiness adhd if you travel to nan train position pinch maine you’ll announcement I person awesome relationships pinch them because there’s an atrocious batch driving cabs and are friends of mine. For real. I’m not being solicitous. I’m being serious." 

US President Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden deterioration Hawaiian leis arsenic they locomotion to committee Air Force One earlier departing Kahului Airport successful Kahului, Hawaii, connected August 21, 2023. The Bidens spent nan time gathering pinch first responders, survivors, and section officials pursuing deadly wildfires successful Maui.  (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Politifact, a wide truth checking website, rated nan statement arsenic "Pants connected fire" and said nan connection "set eyerolls rolling." Other outlets besides covered nan declare and dismissed it arsenic "strange" and "insensitive."

Biden besides repeated a mendacious declare past twelvemonth astir his location burning down to effort to subordinate to those who mislaid their houses from nan wildfires ravaging Maui.

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"I don’t want to comparison difficulties, but we person a small sense, Jill and I, of what it was for illustration to suffer a home," Biden said. "Years ago, now, 15 years, I was successful Washington doing ‘Meet nan Press’… Lightning struck astatine location connected a small reservoir extracurricular nan home, not a reservoir a large pond. It deed nan ligament and came up underneath our home, into the… aerial information ducts.

"To make a agelong communicative short, I almost mislaid my wife, my '67 Corvette, and my cat," nan president added.

A 2004 study from nan Associated Press, archived by LexisNexis, said lightning struck nan Bidens’ location and started a "small occurrence that was contained to nan kitchen." The study said firefighters sewage nan blaze nether power successful 20 minutes and that they were capable to support nan flames from spreading beyond nan kitchen.

Fox News Digital's Jessica Chasmar, Gabriel Hayes, Joseph A. Wulfsohn, and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.