Joe Biden Claims to Have Had High School ‘Epiphany’ on Gay Marriage, Neglects to Mention 50+ Years of Public Opposition to It Afterwards

President Joe Biden misstated his record on gay marriage during a recent interview with Kal Penn, claiming to have had an “epiphany” on the matter in high school while neglecting to mention his more than 50 years of opposition to it.

“I’m curious what your evolution was like on marriage equality and what the federal government might be able to do to protect LGBTQ Americans, especially trans kids who are dealing with all of these regressive state laws that are popping up right now?” asked Penn.

“I can remember exactly where my epiphany was,” replied Biden before launching into an anecdote from his childhood:

Hadn’t thought much about it to tell you the truth and I was a senior in high school and my dad was dropping me off, and I remember about to get out of the car and I look to my right and two well-dressed men in suits kissed each other. I mean like gave each other a kiss. And then one went, looked like he was heading into the Dupont building, one looked like he was headed to the Hercules corporation building. And I’ll never forget it, I turned and looked at my dad and he said ‘Joey, it’s simple. They love each other.’ It’s simple. No, I’m not joking. It’s simple, they love each other. And it’s never been, it’s never been, it’s just that simple, it doesn’t matter whether it’s same-sex or a heterosexual couple, you should be able to be married. So what is the problem?

Biden: “I can remember exactly when my epiphany [on supporting gay marriage] was … I was a senior in high school. And my dad was dropping me off and I remember I was about to get out of the car and I looked to my right and two well-dressed men in suits kissed each other.” pic.twitter.com/0aHlUQ7ghJ

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 14, 2023

But despite Biden’s supposed teenage heel-turn, the future president went on to oppose same-sex marriage for a half-century as both a senator and vice president.

In 1973, just a little over a decade after Biden’s epiphany, he said that his “gut reaction” was to believe that homosexuals in the military and government posed “security risks” to the country. In the 1990s, Biden voted for both the Defense of Marriage Act and also supported a measure to defund schools that presented homosexuality as “a positive lifestyle alternative.”

During an appearance on Meet the Press in 2006, Biden expressed opposition to President George W. Bush‘s proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between a man and woman but used the bipartisan consensus in favor of traditional marriage to do so.

“We already have a law, the Defense of Marriage Act, we’ve all voted, not, or I voted and others and said, ‘Look, marriage is between a man and a woman, and states must respect that. Nobody’s violated that law; there’s been no challenge to that law; why do we need a constitutional amendment? Marriage is between a man and a woman,” argued Biden at the time.

During the 2008 vice-presidential debate, Biden and his counterpart, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin concurred on the subject. “Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage,” declared Biden.

In 2012, more than 50 years after Biden’s epiphany, he finally expressed his support for marriage equality, describing himself as “absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women.”

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