Biden Falsely Claims He ‘Never Said a Negative Thing’ About John McCain — Apparently Forgetting 2008 Campaign
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President Joe Biden falsely stated Thursday at the White House he “never said a negative thing” about late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
On its face, the claim was hard to believe. McCain ran a presidential campaign in 2008 in which Biden was one-half of the opposition ticket.
A quick search of reporting from the campaign reveals Biden likened the Arizona Republican to the third coming of George H.W. Bush and accused him of taking the “low road” to the White House.
Biden posthumously awarded his late friend and Senate colleague the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Thursday.
“We agreed on a lot more things than we disagreed on,” Biden said. “I never stopped admiring John. I never said a negative thing about him in my life.”
Biden added, “I’m the guy who encouraged John to go home and run for office. For real.”
“I never stopped admiring John. Never said a negative thing about him in my life because I knew his honor, his courage and his commitment.”
Pres. Biden posthumously awards the late Republican Sen. John McCain with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. https://t.co/52OXTbD6W2 pic.twitter.com/k8jxYxlGWA
— ABC News (@ABC) July 7, 2022
In what should come as a surprise to no one, Biden made numerous negative statements about the then-Republican presidential nominee throughout the campaign.
In October 2008, Biden derided McCain as a “sidekick” during remarks in Tampa, Florida.
“You can’t call yourself a maverick when all you’ve ever been is a sidekick,” Biden said of McCain.
He later added, “[W]hat a majority of American people are looking for — a steady hand, leadership, an optimist; not an angry man, lurching from one position to another.”
In September 2008, Biden connected McCain to the Bush political dynasty during remarks in Michigan. Biden said:
Just as George Herbert Walker Bush was nicknamed “Bush 41” and his son is nicknamed as “Bush 43,” John McCain could easily become known as “Bush 44.”
Thomas Ferraro, reporting for Reuters in October 2008, wrote:
On becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee in August, Joe Biden called Republican White House rival John McCain “my friend.”
Now Biden denounces McCain as “an angry man” whom he accuses of trying to take “the low road to the highest office in the land” with a campaign of fear and personal attacks.
After McCain raised questions about then-candidate Barack Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers, Biden went on the offensive.
“In my neighborhood where I came from if you got something to say to a man, look him in the eye and say it,” Biden said.
After the McCain campaign ran TV ads about Ayers, Biden called it “mildly dangerous.”
“You know, the idea here that somehow these guys are, once again, injecting fear and loathing into this campaign, I think, is mildly dangerous,” Biden stated. “Look, this really is a case where, when you don’t have anything to talk about, attack. And it gets really over the edge.”
