Biden Claims He Had an ‘Epiphany’ on Same-Sex Marriage as a Teen, but We Have the Receipts

On Monday night, Joe Biden’s interview on The Daily Show on Comedy Central aired, and boy, was it a doozy. The interview was conducted by guest host Kal Penn, the actor mostly known for starring in such classics as Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas.

During the interview, Penn asked Biden about his evolution on same-sex marriage, and Biden, true to form, told a ginormous whopper.

“I can remember exactly where my epiphany was,” Biden claimed. “I hadn’t thought much about it until I was, I was a senior in high school, and my dad was dropping me off. 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 they give each other a kiss. And then one went look like it was heading to the DuPont building, and one looked like it was headed to the Hercules Corporation building. And I’ll never forget, I turned, looked at my dad, 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, whether it’s same-sex, or heterosexual couples should be able to be married. 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

Now, of course, no one actually believes this story is true. Even Kal Penn seemed to chuckle like he knew he was being fed a bunch of lies. Biden has a long history of fictionalizing his biography to rebrand himself as some pioneer of various causes years before they became mainstream even in his party.

So Biden claimed he had his epiphany on same-sex marriage as a teenager, yet, in 1973, during his first year in the U.S. Senate, Joe Biden opposed homosexuals working in the federal government, insisting they were a security risk. “My gut reaction is that they [homosexuals] are security risks,” he said, “but I must admit I haven’t given this much thought… I’ll be darned!’” He would later support Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the policy concerning gays in the military, in 1993, and voted in favor of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. In fact, Biden defended his vote on DOMA years later and argued that the issue of same-sex marriage should be left to the states.

“As President Bush said on a previous occasion, this issue should be left to the states. I agree,” Biden said in 2004. “That’s why I voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as ‘a union between one man and one woman’ and does not require any state to recognize a same-sex union sanctioned under the laws of another state. This has long been a state issue, and it should remain that way.”

As vice president, he even opposed civil unions for same-sex couples.

Does that sound like someone who had his epiphany on same-sex marriage and gay rights as a teenager?

No, it doesn’t.