President Biden on Monday repeated twice within an hour a debunked tale of an Amtrak conductor that he’s told on several past occasions since his 2020 presidential campaign.
Speaking about his infrastructure agenda and America’s passenger rail system at an Amtrak facility in Delaware, Mr. Biden relived the tale of a specific Amtrak conductor informing him as he boarded a train while vice president that he had logged more miles by railway over his decades-long career than by plane.
However, repeated fact-checks have found that while the conductor and Mr. Biden were friends, the man to whom the president refers to each time he resurrects the story retired more than two decades prior and was dead by the earliest possible time the event could have occurred.
The president recalled the supposed interaction during his speech at the facility, and to a small group of Amtrak workers off-stage that was recorded on video.
Mr. Biden has told varying versions and timelines of the event over the years, each of which have been debunked. Monday’s incident marked the latest example of why the president’s critics say the 80-year-old lacks the mental capacity to serve a second term amid frequent verbal gaffes and physical stumbles.
White House officials have previously said they were unfamiliar with the details of Mr. Biden’s Amtrak conductor story but that he has a longtime appreciation for the mode of transportation.
A dismal poll released over the weekend exactly one year out from Election Day prompted some Democrats on Monday to suggest Mr. Biden should not seek a second term.
The New York Times/Siena College survey found that Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is leading the incumbent Democrat in five of six swing states. Of those voters, 38% either “somewhat” or “strongly” approved of Mr. Biden’s job as president compared to 59% who “somewhat” or “strongly” disapproved.