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Joe Biden’s Campaign Walks Back False Claims of Arrest in 1970s South Africa

HeadlineFeb 28, 2020

Former Vice President Joe Biden is continuing to campaign in South Carolina today ahead of Saturday’s presidential primary. This week, Biden picked up an endorsement from Democratic House Whip Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s most prominent African-American lawmaker. Clyburn’s endorsement came as Biden’s campaign admitted that then-Senator Biden was not arrested in South Africa during a congressional delegation trip in the 1970s, as Biden falsely claimed from the campaign trail at least three times this month. Biden first made the claim in 2013, saying he “had the great honor of being arrested with our U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto” as they tried to reach Mandela in his prison on Robben Island. Robben Island is over 750 miles from the township of Soweto. Biden’s campaign now says he was separated from his black colleagues at the airport in Johannesburg. 

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