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."
-
Trump declares new tariffs on drugs, trucks, furnitureSpeed Read He's putting tariffs of 25% on semi trucks, 30% on upholstered furniture, 50% on kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and 100% on certain drugs
-
Amazon reaches ‘historic’ $2.5B Prime settlementspeed read The company allegedly tricked customers into signing up for Prime membership that was then difficult to cancel
-
‘This will support jobs and manufacturing right here in America’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump declares new tariffs on drugs, trucks, furniture
Speed Read He's putting tariffs of 25% on semi trucks, 30% on upholstered furniture, 50% on kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and 100% on certain drugs
-
Amazon reaches ‘historic’ $2.5B Prime settlement
speed read The company allegedly tricked customers into signing up for Prime membership that was then difficult to cancel
-
Trump DOJ indicts Comey, longtime Trump targetSpeed Read The president is using the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies
-
Gunman kills 1 detainee, wounds 2 at ICE facilitySpeed Read A sniper shot three detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office before fatally shooting himself
-
Trump DOJ reportedly rushing to indict ComeySpeed Read Former FBI Director James Comey oversaw the initial 2016 investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia
-
Man convicted of trying to assassinate TrumpSpeed Read Ryan Routh tried to shoot President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course last September
-
Democrat wins Arizona seat, aiding Epstein driveSpeed Read Democrat Adelita Grijalva beat Republican businessman Daniel Butierez for the House seat in Arizona
-
Trump says Ukraine can win, UN nations ‘going to hell’Speed Read In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, the president criticized the UN and renewable energy, plus made a sudden pivot on the war in Ukraine
