President Joe Biden appeared on “The Howard Stern Show” and retold the story of how he supposedly got arrested while defending the civil rights of Black Americans. He mentioned how his mother urged him to accept Barack Obama’s offer to be his running mate by reminding him of the time he stood with a Black family during a desegregation protest in a Delaware suburb. However, fact-checkers have found no evidence to support this claim of an arrest, as Biden has also told the story without mentioning any arrest in the past.
During the interview with Stern, Biden recounted his mother’s words about the protest where he stood with the Black family and the police brought him back home. This version of the story differs from what Biden previously told Oprah Winfrey, where he claimed the police simply escorted him home because they thought he would get in trouble. The White House did not respond to requests for comments on the matter, as the accuracy of Biden’s story remains in question.
Biden’s 2017 memoir also did not mention any arrest at the protest, further casting doubt on the validity of his claim. While there were protests against desegregation in Delaware in the late 1950s, the only arrests made were of individuals in the anti-integration crowd, not those standing with the Black couple. The police were reported to be defending the Black family and their home, contrary to Biden’s recollection of the events.
The accuracy of Biden’s claim remains uncertain due to the lack of concrete evidence from the time of the protest over 60 years ago. His previous false claims, such as driving an 18-wheeler and never earning $400,000 in a year, have also called into question the credibility of his anecdotes from the past. Additionally, during his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden falsely claimed to have been arrested while attempting to visit Nelson Mandela in prison, but later clarified that he was only “stopped” in South Africa.
Despite Biden’s repeated accounts of standing with a Black family during a desegregation protest, there is no concrete evidence to support the claim that he was arrested during that time. Fact-checkers have pointed out discrepancies in his retelling of the events, and his previous false claims about his personal history have further eroded his credibility on the subject. Ultimately, the accuracy of Biden’s recollection of the protest remains in doubt without substantial evidence to confirm or refute his story.
