Biden Never Claimed He Went to DSU
The Claim
Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden lied by saying that he attended Delaware State University.
News posted on
Emerging story
In a speech, Biden said that he got his “start” at Delaware State University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). After giving the speech, many social media users claimed that Biden had lied about going to an HBCU. This was exacerbated when a spokesperson for DSU told the press that Biden has never been a student at the university.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that many took Biden’s comments out of context. He did say that he got his start at DSU. However, he never said that he attended the university. As several websites note, he went to University of Delaware. In a different speech, he said that he “got his start here [and] went to University of Delaware.” It’s pretty likely that he did not mean that his educational start began at DSU.
The DSU spokesperson also said that, when viewed in context, Biden was referring to his long relationship with historically black colleges. Biden could have meant that his civil rights activism began with the HBCU. A large part of his proposal for education reform involves providing more funding for HBCU, stating that they are an important part of the economy.
