President Joe Biden claimed on Friday that he was “appointed” to the Naval Academy in 1965 by a senator named J. Caleb Boggs.
The claim directly contradicts the multiple known biographies of Biden, who graduated from the University of Delaware in the same year of 1965. The Naval Academy does not offer graduate degrees.
“I was told the Class of ’72 is here. I was appointed to the academy in 1965 by a senator who I was running against in 1972 — never planned it that way. I wasn’t old enough to be sworn in. I was only 29 years old when I was running,” Biden said.
“He was a fine man. His name is J. Caleb Boggs,” Biden continued. “I didn’t come to the academy because I wanted to be a football star. And you had a guy named [Roger] Staubach and [Joe] Bellino here. So I went to Delaware.”
Joe Biden falsely claimed he “was appointed to the [Naval] Academy in 1965” while speaking to Naval Academy graduates today.
Biden graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, making that impossible. pic.twitter.com/oSTmjeqSLb
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 27, 2022
“But all kidding aside, the best line of the debate was after it’s all over” Biden said. “The announcer, the questioner — who was a good guy, but supported my opponent, who was a good man as well, I might add — and he said, ‘Sen. Boggs, is there anything else you want to say?’ And he said, ‘Yes, just one thing.’ And he took the microphone. He said, ‘You know, Joe, if you accepted my commission to the — my appointment to the academy,’ he said, ‘you’d still have one year and three months’ active duty and I’d have no problems right now.’”
As the New York Post reported, Biden’s story on Friday directly contradicted his own biographers.
The Post notes that “Biden received five student draft deferments during his four years at the University of Delaware and subsequent three years at Syracuse University College of Law,” and was reportedly “deemed unfit for military service by citing childhood asthma” after graduating from law school in 1968.
