Biden criticized for 'tall tale' about uncle's purple heart

By 
 December 19, 2022

President Joe Biden was criticized across social media after sharing a "tall tale" about his uncle receiving a purple heart.

Biden shared the story during a town hall for veterans in Delaware on Friday.

The story

"My dad, when I got elected vice president [in 2008], he said, ‘Joey, Uncle Frank fought in the Battle of the Bulge,’" Biden said.

"He was not feeling very well now — not because of the Battle of the Bulge, but he said, ‘and he won the Purple Heart and he never received it. He never got it. Do you think you could help him get it? We will surprise him,’" he added.

What really happened?

"The known facts indicate it’s not true. Biden’s father, Joseph R. Biden Sr., died in September 2002 — more than six years before his son was elected vice president. Frank Biden, Joe Sr.’s brother, died in 1999," the New York Post reported.

"Frank Biden’s tombstone does not identify him as a Purple Heart honoree, nor does his obituary. A partial registry of known Purple Heart recipients also doesn’t note anyone by that name receiving the award, though that database is not comprehensive," it added.

The wild array of misinformation is also concerning for Americans aware of the details behind the account.

Just not true

Biden was elected vice president under President Barack Obama in 2008. Biden's dad died six years earlier in 2002.

His uncle died in 1999, nearly a decade earlier, with no record of him receiving a purple heart.

The story adds to many other gaffes shared by the president during his term that have led to growing calls for a health evaluation concerning the president's cognitive abilities.

Biden's uncle served admirably, but the president's stories about him exist only in the realm of fiction, drawing attention to his own woes rather than honoring his military family member.

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