One of Joe Biden's go-to stories about Afghanistan is reportedly almost entirely false
Former Vice President Joe Biden just took his campaign-trail gaffes to the next level.
Biden, The Washington Post reports, recently told a favorite story of his about how he traveled to Afghanistan to pin a Silver Star on a Navy captain when he was vice president. According to his most recent telling, this took place in the Kunar province, and the captain had retrieved a comrade's body from a ravine while under fire, but he didn't want the Silver Star, as he felt he didn't deserve it.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Biden did once pin a medal to a soldier who felt he didn't deserve it, but the Post found that it happened in Wardak, and the Army staff sergeant had been trying to save a friend from a burning vehicle, not a ravine. Biden was also giving him a Bronze Star, not a Silver Star. Separately, Biden reportedly watched a soldier who rescued a comrade receive a Bronze Star when he visited Kunar as a senator.
The Post concluded that Biden seems to have combined elements of three true stories into one false one. He frequently changes the details, but the Post writes that last week, "in the space of three minutes, Biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch and the rank of the recipient wrong, as well as his own role in the ceremony."
-
Political cartoons for December 20Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include drowning rats, the ACA, and more
-
5 fairly vain cartoons about Vanity Fair’s interviews with Susie WilesCartoon Artists take on demolition derby, alcoholic personality, and more
-
Joanna Trollope: novelist who had a No. 1 bestseller with The Rector’s WifeIn the Spotlight Trollope found fame with intelligent novels about the dramas and dilemmas of modern women
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
