Just before 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the container ship DALI struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, causing it to collapse. Eight people were reportedly on the bridge at the time it collapsed, and at least six people remain missing as a search is still underway.
Joe Biden has spoken about the incident and is already saying he wants the federal government to bear the cost of rebuilding the bridge.
"It’s my intention that federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge," he said, "and I expect to — the Congress to support my effort."
It seems a bit premature to be talking about rebuilding the bridge and discussing how it will be paid for while people are still missing, but that's Joe Biden for you.
But what gets me is the way he tried to connect himself to the tragedy, by claiming that he took the train over the bridge many, many times.
"At about 1:30, a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which I’ve been over many, many times commuting from the state of Delaware either on a train or by car," he said. "I’ve been to Baltimore Harbor many times. And the bridge collapsed, sending several people and vehicles into the water — into the river. "
JUST IN: President Biden reveals that he took the train over the Francis Scott Key Bridge "many times" during his commute even though the bridge didn't have train tracks.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 26, 2024
Very impressive!
Biden, who appeared to be taking a train that didn't need tracks to operate, said he… pic.twitter.com/smAPcwPo3x
It's a cute story, but the Francis Scott Key Bridge doesn't have any tracks on it — just two lanes for car traffic in each direction. So despite what he claims, Biden never once took the train over that bridge. So the big question is, why would he say that?
Biden's commuting habits have long been a part of his political mythology, as he reportedly commuted from his home in Delaware to Washington, D.C. via Amtrak daily during his years in the U.S. Senate. CNN wrote the following in a puff piece in December 2020:
Biden’s deep ties to Amtrak and rail travel hark back to his earliest days in the US Senate. After losing his wife and daughter in a car accident in 1972, Biden rode the rails to and from Washington nearly every day to help raise his sons, Hunter and Beau. Biden became one of the rail system’s biggest proponents on Capitol Hill and continued to take the train to Wilmington – albeit less frequently – while vice president.
The roughly 90-minute ride between Wilmington and DC was so central to Biden’s story that the then-senator launched his first presidential bid in 1987 at his hometown train station.
“Amtrak doesn’t just carry us from one place to another – it makes things possible that otherwise wouldn’t be,” Biden wrote in a 2010 article he authored for Amtrak’s Arrive magazine. “For 36 years, I was able to make most of those birthday parties, to get home to read bedtime stories, to cheer for my children at their soccer games. Simply put, Amtrak gave me – and countless other Americans – more time with my family.”
He continued, “That’s worth immeasurably more to me than the fare printed on the ticket.”
When he began his trips in the 1970s, Biden was a somewhat anonymous senator commuting to work. But during his eight years as vice president, whenever he would return to the train, he would be flanked by Secret Service and his reservation would be anonymous for security reasons.
Yada, yada, yada.
In truth, I wouldn't doubt that he probably crossed the bridge more than once in his life, but his desperate need to insert himself into the tragedy caused him to once again embellish his life story with falsehoods.
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