Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumWash Post: Biden's ridiculous claim he was arrested trying to see Mandela
This day, 30 years ago, Nelson Mandela walked out of prison and entered into discussions about apartheid. I had the great honor of meeting him. I had the great honor of being arrested with our U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto trying to get to see him on Robbens Island.
Former vice president Joe Biden, in remarks in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 11
After he [Mandela] got free and became president, he came to Washington and came to my office. He threw his arms around me and said, I want to say thank you. I said, What are you thanking me for, Mr. President? He said: You tried to see me. You got arrested trying to see me.
Biden, in remarks in Las Vegas on Feb. 16
We were reminded of that episode when we saw that former vice president Joe Biden has told voters at least three times that he was arrested in South Africa while trying to visit Nelson Mandela. The New York Times has done a great job deconstructing this story, but it cries out for our own fact check and a Pinocchio rating.
The Facts
The South Carolina primary, with its large percentage of African American voters, is critical for Bidens hopes to emerge as the top challenger to the current front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, unlike Biden, and photos have emerged of Sanders being arrested during a civil rights protest at the University of Chicago.
Biden, as a senator, was active in the anti-apartheid movement, helping pass sanctions on companies doing business in South Africa over President Ronald Reagans veto. But there is no evidence that Biden was ever arrested trying to see the imprisoned future president of a democratic South Africa.
As the Times noted, Bidens memoir makes no mention of any such arrest. As far as we can tell, Biden never mentioned this arrest before; neither can we locate any news accounts of him being arrested.
Bidens first statement above is rather jumbled. Soweto, a township near Johannesburg, is nearly 900 miles from Robben not Robbens Island, which is off the coast of Cape Town. He appears to be referring to a trip in 1977, but the U.N. ambassador from 1977 to 1979, Andrew Young, told The Fact Checker that he was never arrested in South Africa.
There is no chance I ever was arrested in South Africa, and I dont think Joe was, either, said Young, who as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. on civil rights demonstrations. I was arrested twice, in Savannah and Atlanta.
Young noted that memories can play tricks, but it isnt easy to forget being arrested. He has had many people recall that they were arrested with him in Birmingham, Ala., but he must remind them that he was under specific instructions not to get arrested during the 1963 Birmingham protests. His friends may have been arrested in Birmingham, he said, but he was not.
Young is a former Atlanta mayor who supports fellow former mayor Mike Bloomberg but considers Biden a friend. He speculated that Biden was mixing up stories about congressional delegations that would fly into Lesotho, a landlocked country surrounded by South Africa. He said he believed he traveled on at least three trips with Biden when he was a member of Congress.
Young said that on one trip, we were not jailed, but we were retained by South Africa police, who would not let the lawmakers get back to a military base in Lesotho so they could board their plane. A colonel finally came and sorted everything out. Young, with a laugh, recalled that then-Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), who headed the delegation, got pretty worked up about it.
More at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/25/bidens-ridiculous-claim-he-was-arrested-trying-see-mandela/
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
htuttle
(23,738 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
berni_mccoy
(23,018 posts)They have had negative reports on every other candidate but him.
Could be Bezos putting in with his billionaire bud.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
totodeinhere
(13,059 posts)to help the Sanders campaign. That could potentially be very negative for Bernie's campaign.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
berni_mccoy
(23,018 posts)Did you think I meant Bernie when I typed Bloomie?
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
totodeinhere
(13,059 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)Love ya Joe!
You are a really good person and I will be voting for you in California.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)anywho, Blacks get held up/detained a lot for many reasons in the US.
From what I understand, VP stood with the other AAs in SA.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
OhZone
(3,212 posts)well, let me tell you, there are a lot of people, especially people of color, who feel that, who understand it.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
OhZone
(3,212 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
George II
(67,782 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden