Wash Post: Biden's ridiculous claim he was arrested trying to see Mandela

[USALiberal]

“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 Biden’s 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 Reagan’s 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, Biden’s 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.

Biden’s 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 don’t 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 isn’t 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/

[htuttle]

1. Hmm, could it be the Mandela effect?

[Polybius]

15. Lmao!

[berni_mccoy]

2. I could be wrong but it looks like WaPo is favoring Bloomie

They have had negative reports on every other candidate but him.

Could be Bezos putting in with his billionaire bud.

[Devil Child]

5. I've noticed the same n/t

[totodeinhere]

6. But as you know the Post also reported on information that the Russians are trying

to help the Sanders campaign. That could potentially be very negative for Bernie's campaign.

[berni_mccoy]

8. Yes I know

Did you think I meant Bernie when I typed Bloomie?

[totodeinhere]

16. You are right. I'm sorry. I miss read it. n/t

[Iliyah]

3. LOL . . .

Love ya Joe!

You are a really good person and I will be voting for you in California.

[USALiberal]

4. I'll alert the media! nt

[Iliyah]

14. Oh that was cold - LOL

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.

[OhZone]

7. If you get detained without an "official" arrest -

well, let me tell you, there are a lot of people, especially people of color, who feel that, who understand it.

[George II]

9. Exactly. What is the "status" of those who have been at Guantanamo Bay for years?

[USALiberal]

11. Joe is a lawyer!!!!! nt

[USALiberal]

10. Joe is a lawyer!!!!! nt

[OhZone]

12. Then ask him what the definition of "arrest" is in this context. SHeesh.

[George II]

13. Remember, this happened in South Africa in the 1970s, not the US today.