President Joe Biden’s speech at the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Sunday was yet another opportunity for him to repeat the questionable claim that he frequented a Black church during the civil rights movement.
In his speech, he stated “Let’s lay one thing to rest. I may be a practicing Catholic, but [I] used to go to 7:30 Mass every morning in high school and then in college before I went to the Black church,”. This claim, that he was an active participant in the civil rights movement, has been disputed repeatedly in the past.
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden frequently mentioned how he would help organize anti-segregation protests at Union Baptist Church, a prominent Black church led by the late Rev. Otis Herring in Wilmington, Delaware.
However, when questioned by media, longtime congregants stated they didn’t recall Biden attending the church. This revelation came about the same time Biden was forced to admit his repeated claims about being arrested with former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young in apartheid-era South Africa were untrue.
Biden also acknowledged in the 1980s that he was not a civil rights activist and never marched during the movement. In 1987, he stated “During the ’60s, I was, in fact, very concerned about the civil rights movement,” Biden said during a speech in 1987.
“I was not an activist. I worked at an all-Black swimming pool in the east side of Wilmington, Delaware. I was involved in what they were thinking, in what they were feeling.”
It’s time for Biden to stop trying to lay claim to the civil rights movement and instead focus on the issues at hand, such as the investigation into the alleged mishandling of Obama-era classified documents. Attorney General Merrick Garland recently announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate how the president handled classified documents after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. The White House also revealed that five additional classified records were found at Biden’s home in Wilmington.
This is yet another example of Biden’s tendency to embellish his past and make false claims. As Republicans, we must demand accountability from our leaders and call out these false narratives. It’s time for Biden to take responsibility for his actions and stop trying to falsely connect himself to the civil rights movement.
