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Biden's bogus college claim is just latest in decades-long pattern of embellishment

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Biden's bogus college claim is just latest in decades-long pattern of embellishment

President Biden falsely claimed earlier this week that he was the “first” person in his family to “go to college,” continuing a decades-long habit of making false or embellished claims about his life.

Biden has been scrutinized several times over the years for fabricating tales, including claiming to have been arrested in apartheid-era South Africa, being in a helicopter that was “forced down” by Al-Qaeda insurgents in Afghanistan, and even trivial events involving an Amtrak conductor who had passed away before his alleged story took place.

Biden continued the trend on Monday while speaking in the battleground state of Wisconsin as he outlined his plan to provide “life-changing” relief to student loan debt. 

TRUMP RIPS BIDEN ON KEY ISSUE IMPACTING VOTERS AFTER DAMAGING REPORT: ‘TOTALLY LOST CONTROL’

President Biden has a history of exaggerated tales about his life and career. (Fox News)

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“I, like an awful lot of people in this audience, was the first in my family to go to college and watched by dad struggled to help me get there,” Biden told the crowd.

However, less than two years ago, during a speech in Pennsylvania, Biden told an audience that his grandfather played college football.

“My grandfather Finnegan from Scranton would really be proud of me right now,’ Biden said in Pittsburgh in October 2022. “No, I’m not joking. He would. By the way, he was an All-American football player [inaudible] in Santa Clara.”

When asked about his recent comments and his embellishments throughout the years, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital that President Biden “is proud to have restored honesty, integrity, and respect for the rule of law to the Oval Office.”

He added that Biden is also proud “to be the first Biden to graduate college.” 

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Biden’s exaggerations regarding colleges also extend to a previous claim that he taught “political theory” at the University of Pennsylvania, which he mentioned in Maryland in September 2023.

“Democracy is at stake, folks. Our democracy is under attack. And we gotta fight for it,” Biden said. “I taught at the University of Pennsylvania for four years. And I used to teach political theory. And folks, you always hear every generation has to fight for democracy. And I found myself – it’s automatic, we didn’t have to believe it – but we do. We do.”

BIDEN ADMIN FACING LEGAL CHALLENGES AFTER DECLARING WAR ON CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Fact Checkers have hit Biden over his stories in the past. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Bloomberg via Getty)

There is little to no evidence that Biden ever taught “political theory” at the University of Pennsylvania. While the university’s website notes that the president was the Benjamin Franklin Presidential Professor of Practice from 2017 to 2021, a Snopes.com fact-check on his previous but similar claim – that he was a “full professor at the University of Pennsylvania” for four years – found that “he did not teach a semester’s worth of courses” while in this role. 

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Snopes noted that this “role was honorary” and that he “gave lectures and talks to students on campus but did not teach a full semester’s course load during that time.”

Years before, when he ran for president in 1987, Biden exaggerated his academic record by bragging that he graduated “in the top half” of his class while berating a reporter on the campaign trail. 

“I think I have a much higher I.Q. than you do, I suspect,” Biden told the reporter in New Hampshire at the time. “I went to law school on a full academic scholarship, the only one in my class to have a full academic scholarship.”

“In the first year of law school, I decided I didn’t want to be in law school and ended up in the bottom two-thirds of my class,” he said. “And then I decided to stay, went back to law school, and in fact ended up in the top half of my class.”

He later admitted that he graduated 76th in a class of 85. 

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“I did not graduate in the top half of my class at law school, and my recollection of this was inaccurate,” he told the New York Times.

“I graduated from the University of Delaware with a double major in history and political science,” he said. “My reference to degrees at the Claremont event was intended to refer to these majors -—I said ‘three’ and should have said ‘two.’” 

The outlet pointed out that Biden received a single B.A. degree in history and political science.

REPUBLICAN STATE SUES BIDEN ADMIN OVER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ACTIONS: ‘DYSTOPIAN NIGHTMARE’

Biden’s tall tales date back decades. (Getty Images)

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Since then, Biden has told numerous stories that have also been deemed exaggerations. Mainstream outlets, including the Washington Post, have even called him out on them, including the publication’s top fact-checker Glenn Kessler. 

In September 2023, Kessler penned an article about how “Biden loves to retell certain stories” and how some lack credibility. His report assembled several of Biden’s accounts, including one about an Amtrak conductor he claimed hailed him on having traveled more than two million miles on the railroad, exceeding the 1.2 million miles traveled on Air Force planes as vice president as of 2016. 

However, the conductor retired in 1993 and passed away two years before Biden reached that milestone in the air. 

Other stories Kessler addressed include Biden’s claim that he and his father saw two men in suits kissing each other in public when he was a teenager, that he was arrested for trying to see Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and how, as vice president, he arranged for his uncle to be presented a Purple Heart that he was owed and never received, except the uncle died in 1999, long before Biden was vice president. 

Biden has also been repeatedly called out for his claims of being very close with Somali cab drivers in Wilmington, Delaware.

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“Somalis have made my city of Wilmington, Del. (their home) on a smaller scale. There is a very identifiable Somali community,” then-Vice President Biden said. “I might add if you come to the train station with me you’ll notice I have great relationships with them because there’s an awful lot driving cabs and are friends of mine. For real. I’m not being solicitous. I’m being serious.” 

US President Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden wear Hawaiian leis as they walk to board Air Force One before departing Kahului Airport in Kahului, Hawaii, on August 21, 2023. The Bidens spent the day meeting with first responders, survivors, and local officials following deadly wildfires in Maui.  (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Politifact, a liberal fact checking website, rated the statement as “Pants on fire” and said the statement “set eyerolls rolling.” Other outlets also covered the claim and dismissed it as “strange” and “insensitive.”

Biden also repeated a false claim last year about his house burning down to try to relate to those who lost their houses from the wildfires ravaging Maui.

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“I don’t want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense, Jill and I, of what it was like to lose a home,” Biden said. “Years ago, now, 15 years, I was in Washington doing ‘Meet the Press’… Lightning struck at home on a little lake outside the home, not a lake a big pond. It hit the wire and came up underneath our home, into the… air condition ducts.

“To make a long story short, I almost lost my wife, my ’67 Corvette, and my cat,” the president added.

A 2004 report from the Associated Press, archived by LexisNexis, said lightning struck the Bidens’ home and started a “small fire that was contained to the kitchen.” The report said firefighters got the blaze under control in 20 minutes and that they were able to keep the flames from spreading beyond the kitchen.

Fox News Digital’s Jessica Chasmar, Gabriel Hayes, Joseph A. Wulfsohn, and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

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Video: Cassidy Loses Primary After Drawing Trump’s Ire

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Video: Cassidy Loses Primary After Drawing Trump’s Ire

new video loaded: Cassidy Loses Primary After Drawing Trump’s Ire

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transcript

Cassidy Loses Primary After Drawing Trump’s Ire

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy lost his Louisiana primary on Saturday after President Trump targeted him for voting to impeach him in 2021. The two-term senator took veiled swipes at the president in his concession speech.

Thank you, Louisiana! I want to say thank you to a very special man who you all know, the best president this country has ever had, President Donald Trump. I’ve been able to participate in democracy. And when you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout. You don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen. Our country is not about one individual. It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution. And if someone doesn’t understand that and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they are about serving themselves. They’re not about serving us.”

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Republican Senator Bill Cassidy lost his Louisiana primary on Saturday after President Trump targeted him for voting to impeach him in 2021. The two-term senator took veiled swipes at the president in his concession speech.

By Cynthia Silva

May 17, 2026

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Trump warns Iran’s ‘clock is ticking’: Move ‘fast’ or ‘there won’t be anything left’

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Trump warns Iran’s ‘clock is ticking’: Move ‘fast’ or ‘there won’t be anything left’

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President Donald Trump renewed his stern warnings for Iran to come to peace and end its nuclear weapons aspirations Sunday.

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“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

“TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”

Trump, fresh off his trek to meet China’s Xi Jinping face to face, is weighing restarting military action on Iran, Fox News Digital reported earlier Sunday.

TRUMP WARNS IRAN’S ‘CLOCK IS TICKING’: MOVE ‘FAST’ OR ‘THERE WON’T BE ANYTHING LEFT’

President Donald Trump is renewing threats for Iran to come to peace and commit to giving up its nuclear weapons aspirations. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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The president also had a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

“Our eyes are also open regarding Iran,” Netanyahu said Sunday morning, as translated from Hebrew. “I will speak today, as I do every few days, with our friend President Trump.

“I will certainly hear impressions from his trip to China, and perhaps other matters as well. There are certainly many possibilities, and we are prepared for every scenario.”

TRUMP MEETS NETANYAHU, SAYS HE WANTS IRAN DEAL BUT REMINDS TEHRAN OF ‘MIDNIGHT HAMMER’ OPERATION

Trump remains at the White House on Sunday, but no public or press appearances were on his schedule.

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The call with Netanyahu came amid regional intelligence assessments on Iran that restarting of military strikes might be coming because of Trump’s frustration with Iran’s tactics amid the closing of the Strait of Hormuz and the rejection of his demand to give up nuclear weapons aspirations.

“The prevailing assessment inside Iran is that President Trump may resort to restarting military action, and Tehran is now deliberately pursuing a strategy of ‘deception and delay’ with the hopes that buying time will complicate any potential return to war,” two regional intelligence officials told Fox News.

EXPERTS WARN IRAN’S NUCLEAR DOUBLE-TALK DESIGNED TO BUY TIME, UNDERMINE US PRESSURE

Intelligence officials believe that the Iranian regime thinks it can delay developments and stretch the crisis out for at least two more weeks, so that the situation could become more difficult for Trump to restart the military campaign, both politically and operationally.

These sources say Iranian officials are looking at the World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary as a backstop that could work in their favor.

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The impact of the U.S.-led blockade is becoming increasingly visible inside Iran, according to a senior Israeli official, early signs of a developing fuel crisis emerging over the weekend – including long lines at gas stations and growing public discontent over fuel shortages and distribution problems.

“It’s getting exponentially worse,” the official added.

Fox News’ Trey Yingst and Yonat Friling contributed to this report.

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Commentary: Californians on a confounding race for governor: ‘I haven’t … a clue who I’m going to vote for’

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Commentary: Californians on a confounding race for governor: ‘I haven’t … a clue who I’m going to vote for’

Eddie Martinez can’t stand Donald Trump. So when Eric Swalwell entered the race for California governor, Martinez had his candidate.

“I liked the way he took Trump on, the impeachment thing in Congress,” Martinez said of the former Bay Area congressman, a Trump nemesis who served as one of the House prosecutors in 2021 when Democrats held the wayward president to account for the second time.

Then, suddenly, Swalwell’s campaign collapsed under the weight of allegations of abuse, including charges he sexually assaulted a former aide. With Martinez’s choice out of the running, the Democrat turned to the candidate who’d been his second pick all along, Xavier Becerra.

Martinez has been familiar with Becerra for decades, going back to when the former congressman, state attorney general and Biden Cabinet member was in the state Assembly. To his credit, said the 65-year-old retired public relations strategist, Becerra has largely kept clear of controversy and there’s never been a whiff of personal scandal — an important consideration after Swalwell’s spectacular self-destruction.

On top of all that, Martinez said as he prepared to drop his mail ballot at a post office in Alhambra, it would be nice for California to elect its first Latino governor in modern times. It’s been, Martinez observed, more than 150 years.

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With the gubernatorial primary entering its final two weeks, a contest that had been stubbornly formless has finally gained coherence. Becerra, who’d been widely given up for dead as he foundered near the bottom of polls, has unexpectedly emerged as the Democrat to beat.

“He has the most experience,” said Ruben Avita, a 57-year-old actor who leans Democratic and is tilting toward Becerra over hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer. “At this point,” Avita said as he waited to catch a double feature at a cineplex in Monterey Park, “I want someone with a proven track record.”

Among the Republicans running, Trump’s pick — conservative commentator Steve Hilton — seems firmly ensconced atop the GOP field.

“He’s got a lot more common-sense approach than any of these other idiots,” said Wayne The Flame — yes, he explained, that’s his legal name —which, while not exactly a ringing endorsement, still counts as a vote.

The Claremont independent, retired at 73 after a career selling motorcycles and hot rods, described Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, the other major GOP contestant, as a racist and dismissed the entire Democratic field with a string of epithets. “Dumb—,” he said of the voters who keep putting the likes of them in power.

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Peaches, a chihuahua/boxer rescue, stands alongside her owner, Wayne The Flame

If not terribly enthused, at least The Flame has made up his mind. Many voters remain undecided — or, at least, not entirely wed to a candidate.

Some are holding on to their ballots longer than usual, awaiting any last-minute developments and weighing the election odds as though wagering in a high-stakes game of poker.

Like many Democrats, Bryce Dwyer’s concern is that Hilton and Bianco will seize both spots in June’s top-two primary, advancing to a November runoff and giving California its first Republican governor in 16 years.

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A 40-year-old project manager at the Getty Research Institute, Dwyer held his 2-year-old daughter as his son, 6, romped on a pleasant afternoon in Sierra Madre’s Memorial Park. Across the street, the bells of Christ Church chimed the hour.

“None of the Democrats are putting forth anything that is making me excited,” said Dwyer, who’s ruled out Becerra (he doesn’t see much there) and is deciding between Steyer and former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter. He’s trying to cast his ballot strategically, the East Pasadena resident said, and “it’s the first time in a while I haven’t really had a clue who I’m going to vote for so close to election day.”

A woman in a red dress in profile with her hands held in front of her

Democrat Priscilla Vega of Monrovia has yet to settle on her candidate for governor

This is a deeply unsettled season in California, with precious little hope the next governor — whoever he or she turns out to be — will make things better anytime soon. That mix of discouragement and discontent surfaced repeatedly, like a dull ache, in conversations with dozens of voters across the San Gabriel Valley.

The region’s ethnic and economic diversity — from the working-class neighborhoods of Pomona through the Asian-majority suburbs to the mountainside mansions of San Dimas and Pasadena — make the valley a prime battleground in the race for governor.

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Alana H., who asked not to use her last name, said she wasn’t even bothering to vote.

She ticked off some reasons: The soaring price of gas and rising cost of, essentially, everything else. The fear her college-age daughter will never be able to buy a home in California. Worse, is her loss of faith. She no longer believes in the promise, once taken for granted, that each generation will improve its lot over the last. And, Alana said, she’s not alone: “Anyone who’s an average person is in the same boat, we’re all just trying to stay afloat.” Standing in front of the post office in Alhambra, the 52-year-old paddled her arms as though to keep from sinking.

A man stands in front of a wall full of framed pictures

Jaunenito Pavon, in his Glendora wine and chocolate bar, would like California to elect a governor who could unify the state. He’s still deciding on a candidate

The politicians in both parties are “so out of touch,” she said, “all they’re doing is fighting over this and that, when everyone I know doesn’t care what party you’re in. They just want to put food on their table. They want their kids to have a better life.”

Shelby Moore has some of the same concerns. Forget about ever buying a home, said the 30-year-old California native, a Democratic-leaning independent. It’s no small feat scraping up money for rent. “I’ve lost almost every single friend that I went to high school or college with,” Moore said between waiting tables at a Mediterranean restaurant in Glendora. “They’ve all moved out of state.”

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A waitress places food on the table at a Glendora restaurant

Shelby Moore, 30, a waitress in Glendora, said all her friends from high school and college have left California because it’s so expensive.

She’ll definitely vote, Moore said, though she doesn’t know for whom. One of the Democrats. Someone who’ll work to make California more affordable and keep people like her friends from being priced out.

In Claremont, Eric Hurley was another undecided Democrat. He attended last month’s gubernatorial debate at Pomona College, where the 56-year-old professor teaches psychological science and Africana studies. Otherwise, he’s been too busy to pay much attention to the race.

But it’s important, Hurley said, that whoever wins “keep fighting the good fight and standing by our liberal principles. I would hate to see someone in the governor’s office start capitulating to what the current administration is asking.”

A man sitting outside a coffee shop with his image reflected in the window

Democrat Eric Hurley is undecided in the governor’s race. But he wants someone who’ll stand up to the Trump administration.

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Others seconded that notion, that California needs to stand as a bulwark against Trump and his excesses, such as the draconian crackdown that has terrorized the state’s large immigrant population.

But there’s not a great appetite for the sort of performative pushback that’s won the current governor a wide audience on social media and boosted Gavin Newsom’s political stock as he positions himself ahead of the 2028 presidential campaign.

Jennifer Harris, 56, is a single mom in Monrovia who oversees payroll at a food manufacturing company. She has to stretch each of her dollars to make ends meet; soon she’ll be shelling out $30,000 a year for her daughter to go to college. Buying a home, Harris said, is out of the question.

She confessed to chuckling at the governor’s memes — an over-the-top oeuvre that includes Newsom as super hero, Newsom as religious beacon, Newsom as romance-novel hunk — and his other cheeky jabs at the president. “But that’s not an adult way to handle it,” Harris said between errands in Monrovia’s quaint shopping district. “It’s not solving any problems.”

Better, she said, for the next governor — she hasn’t decided whom she’ll support — to focus on practicalities: improving the economy, making housing and healthcare more affordable, dealing with homelessness and the underlying mental health issues.

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A woman seen in profile

Jennifer Harris said Gov. Newsom’s over-the-top social media presence is amusing. But she wants the next governor to focus on more practical things.

Britnee Foreman echoed that sentiment.

The 41-year-old, who lives in Azusa and works in the music business, was meeting a friend, Priscilla Vega, 43, for lunch in Monrovia. Along with a meal, the two Democrats shared their concerns about inflation and income inequality.

“Memes are great for publicity,” said Foreman, who’s deciding between Becerra and Porter, based on their policy experience. (Vega, a lifestyle marketer, has yet to narrow down her choice.)

A woman gestures while discussing the California governors race

Britnee Foreman says the next governor needs policies “with teeth,” not an active social media presence.

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“But I prefer policy,” Foreman went on. “I don’t want them just to be the popular person out there on social media. It’s great if they’re tweeting and have a cute little Insta-story. But I need their policies to have teeth and actively move us forward. And not just look like it’s moving forward.”

After nearly eight years, amid widespread unease, California seems ready to put the Newsom era in the past. It’s just not clear what path voters will choose, or which candidate they’ll prefer to steer the state toward, hopefully, a better place.

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