President Joe Biden claimed last week that his house burned down while he and First Lady Jill Biden were inside, prompting some to accuse him of embellishing his stories.
On Nov. 16, while giving a speech on a New Hampshire bridge, Biden claimed that his house had burned down while the first lady was inside. He later corrected himself, saying that only a significant portion of the house burned down.
“Without this bridge, as I said earlier, it’s a 10-mile detour just to get to the other side.
And I know, having had a house burn down with my wife in it — she got out safely, God willing — that having a significant portion of it burn, I can tell: 10 minutes makes a hell of a difference. It makes a big difference,” Biden said, according to a transcript posted by the White House.
The president was referring to a fire that started in 2004 after lightning struck his home while he was still a senator. However, firefighters on the scene were able to put out the fire in the kitchen. Cranston Heights Fire Company Chief George Lamborn said the fire was declared “under control” 20 minutes later.
It wasn’t the first time the president had brought up the story. In 2013, Biden, who was vice president under Barack Obama at the time, thanked firefighters and first responders for saving his wife and his “67 Corvette,” but claimed the fire “destroyed a significant portion” of his Delaware home.
Several times, the president has been chastised for exaggerating stories. Biden told the story in October about a lighthearted encounter with former Amtrak employee Angelo Negri when he was still vice president.
However, according to Negri’s obituary, he retired from Amtrak in 1993, while Biden was still a senator. According to Fox News, Negri died a year before the previously mentioned encounter.
Biden claimed in 2013 that he heard gunshots from a 2006 Amish schoolhouse shooting in Pennsylvania while playing golf nearby. The Washington Times later debunked Biden’s claims, pointing out that the closest golf course to the shooting site was at least five miles away.
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