President Biden on Monday referred to the Marine One presidential helicopter as “Air Force Helicopter One,” while claiming that Ronald Reagan sent the helicopter to take him from Delaware to the D.C.-area Walter Reed Military Hospital when Biden suffered an aneurysm. brain in the 1980s.
The 81-year-old’s anecdote, like other biographical details he has shared in public comments, is not supported by his own autobiography, nor by Reagan’s presidential diary.
“President Reagan was kind enough to send Air Force Helicopter One to shoot me down, but I couldn’t fly,” Biden told firefighters during a day trip to Philadelphia, using an incorrect name for the plane.
“And then my fire department came, put me in the back and took me through a heavy snowfall the day I went down to Walter Reed,” added the president, whose stories often face withering fact-checks in amid criticism of his campaign during the campaign. Mental acuity.
The last part of the story involving the local fire department is described in Biden’s 2007 book “Promises to Keep,” but there is no mention of Reagan offering or sending the presidential helicopter.
A review of records posted online by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library found no corroborating evidence.
Press reports indicate that then-Senator. Biden was admitted to Walter Reed on February 12, 1988, and Reagan’s diary, which includes a detailed account of their meetings and phone calls, shows no discussion of sending the helicopter to help the Democrat.
President Biden walks to the Oval Office after arriving on Marine One at the White House on August 14, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
In fact, Reagan himself was unable to use Marine One on the morning of February 12 due to bad weather, according to a handwritten note, forcing him to take a motorcade to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to board the Air Force One for a flight to Los Angeles.
The term “Marine One” is used for any helicopter the president rides in, rather than a specific vehicle (as is the case with the term “Air Force One”), and is typically accompanied by two identical decoys. It is unclear how many times presidents have attempted to lend one of the military helicopters as a favor.
Biden’s autobiography provides a detailed account of his trip to Walter Reed, sparked by what he said was his brother James Biden’s determination that the center had the best expert to treat him.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in 1987. Greg Mathieson/MAI/DMI
“Weather conditions made a medical evacuation helicopter flight too dangerous,” Biden wrote. “I had no idea what time it was, but I found myself on a stretcher, with my test results strapped to my chest, being wheeled out the doors of Saint Francis. [hospital in Wilmington, Del.] towards a waiting ambulance.”
Biden wrote that the ambulance was “manned by my friends from the local volunteer fire department” and escorted through the snow by Delaware and then Maryland state police.
“The medical staff did not seem easy with the situation. “If the aneurysm burst, there was nothing they could do for me on the road,” Biden wrote.
“We continued driving for about half an hour… as the ambulance driver made his way through the snow storm until we suddenly realized we were no longer moving. The snow was falling harder and we were going nowhere.
Senator Joseph Biden then posed for a photo at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington with his wife, Jill Biden, after being released to recover from the effects of aneurysm repair surgery, Tuesday, the 23rd. February 1988. AP
“’Why are they stopping us?’ Jill continued saying. ‘Why are they stopping us?’ She finally started hitting the partition that separated us from the driver’s cabin.
“’Maryland State Police aren’t sure where to go,’ was the response. ‘Move!’ Jill shouted. “We can not.” “Damn,” she said. “Move this ambulance!” The next thing I knew we were moving again.”
Reagan later appeared in the book version of the story.
Biden wrote that he was discharged from Walter Reed after 10 days, but then had to be taken back to the hospital for another 10 days and that “President Reagan even sent his own doctor to check me out.”
“When I returned home, Jill and the staff made the decision to keep me completely isolated,” he continued. “There would be no work, no phone calls, nothing. President Reagan had called twice. Jill was grateful to the president, but she made no exceptions to his rule.”
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on whether there is evidence to support the most recent version of Biden’s story.
Biden has made a series of incorrect public comments about his own biography, including telling a debunked story involving an Amtrak conductor 13 times as president, and claiming last year that his uncle Frank Biden had received the Purple Heart, despite the chronological details that make up the story. factually impossible.
A New York Times poll released last month found that 71% of swing state voters say Biden is “too old to be an effective president,” while only 39% said the same of former President Donald Trump. 77 years old, who is looking for a revenge against Biden. next year.
Biden’s defenders say he is simply prone to mistakes that are compounded by a lifelong stutter.
He ended his first presidential campaign in 1987, shortly before his aneurysm, after revelations that he plagiarized campaign speeches and a law school paper and exaggerated his academic record.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn