For those who’ve kept tabs on Biden‘s track record, his penchant for weaving tales and his often incoherent ramblings hardly raise an eyebrow. Just this Wednesday, President Joe Biden suggested, not once but twice, that his maternal uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, met his end at the hands of cannibals after his plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean. This yarn spun with all the gusto of an old sailor’s tale, was quickly walked back by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who clarified aboard Air Force One that Finnegan’s demise was due to the crash itself, not the culinary preferences of New Guinea natives.
Jean-Pierre, attempting to do damage control, emphasized Biden’s pride in his uncle’s service and sacrifice. Yet, this bizarre detour into the speculative didn’t so much highlight the valor of Finnegan’s service as it did underscore the President’s penchant for embellishing stories and his deteriorating mind.
Biden’s choice of embellishment is odd, to say the least, especially when addressing Pennsylvania voters whose support is crucial for Biden’s re-election bid against former President Donald Trump. One might think the true story of sacrifice in the line of duty would be compelling enough without resorting to tales that sound more at home in an adventure novel than in a presidential speech.
This episode raises the curtain not just on a personal anecdote gone awry but on a broader issue: the reliability of Biden’s words. In a time when the truth is often stranger than fiction, it behooves those in the highest offices to adhere to the facts, especially when recounting the heroic sacrifices made by those in service to their country. After all, the valor of individuals like Ambrose Finnegan doesn’t need embellishment—it stands impressively on its own.
