White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is facing questions about President Joe Biden’s statement that he was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1965.
CBS News Ed O’Keefe noted on Tuesday, “The president was born in 1942. Graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965. In his address, he said he was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1965.”
“Was he? Was it in 1965?” he asked.
Jean-Pierre responded, “I did not hear that part of the speech.”
“[It was right] at the beginning of the speech,” O’Keefe said.
“No, I hear you, Ed,” the press secretary responded.
She added, “I need to read it myself and just go back and see what you’re talking about exactly. I can’t speak to it right now.”
Watch the exchange below:
CBS's @EdOKeefe: "I want to just clarify…something [Biden] said…during his address at the Naval academy. [He] was born in 1942, graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965…He said he was appointed [there] in 1965? Was he?"
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 31, 2022
KJP says she "did not hear that part" pic.twitter.com/pvAxAhEp7B
While speaking to graduating midshipmen at the Naval Academy, Biden made a statement that raised some eyebrows.
As the New York Post reports, “Biden said he applied to Annapolis with a letter from then-Delaware Sen. J. Caleb Boggs, but the year he cited — 1965 — is the same year he graduated from the University of Delaware. The academy doesn’t offer graduate degrees.”
“I was told the Class of ’72 is here. I was appointed to the academy in 1965 by a senator who I was running against in 1972 — never planned it that way. I wasn’t old enough to be sworn in. I was only 29 years old when I was running. He was a fine man. His name is J. Caleb Boggs,” Biden said on Friday.
Joe Biden falsely claimed he “was appointed to the [Naval] Academy in 1965” while speaking to Naval Academy graduates today.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 27, 2022
Biden graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, making that impossible. pic.twitter.com/oSTmjeqSLb
He continued, “I didn’t come to the Academy because I wanted to be a football star. And you had a guy named Staubach and Bellino here. So I went to Delaware.”
Biden went on:
“But all kidding aside, the best line of the debate was — after it was all over, the announcer — the questioner who was a good guy but supported my opponent — who was a good man as well, I might add — and he said, ‘Senator Boggs, you have anything else you want to say?’ And he said, ‘Yes, just one thing.’ And he took the microphone. He said, ‘You know, Joe, if you had accepted my appointment to the Academy,’ he said, ‘you’d still have one year and three months active duty, and I’d have no problems right now.'”
The Post notes, “It’s unclear if Biden has told the story before, but it surprised political journalists who have covered his many campaigns and his presidency. Biden’s 2008 autobiography ‘Promises to Keep’ does not mention the Naval Academy.”
Additionally, it pointed out that “had Biden attended the academy, he would have had to serve in the Navy upon graduation.”
