There’s a regular request that readers send to The Fact Checker: Is that personal anecdote that President Biden just told true?
The answer, in many cases, is there’s no evidence.
Many of these tales are of relatively minor consequence — an apparent effort by the president to make a connection or show that he’s not just a politician. But throughout his career — most famously in his first presidential campaign, in the 1988 election cycle — Biden’s propensity to exaggerate or embellish tales about his life has led to doubts about his truthfulness. Judging from our mailbag, these stories grate on some people.