By now you’ve probably seen the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse video and know how horrible the situation was. But, what if I told you that Joe Biden could find a way to make that situation even worse. And by worse, I don’t mean he showed up and jumped into the water himself, but he was making verbal comments about it and made a totally false claim about the Francis Scott Key bridge. Joe Biden said he took a train or car on his commute, which could sometimes include going over that bridge. The internet and fact checkers reminded folks that the bridge doesn’t have train tracks – but that Biden’s statement should allow for some ambiguity – something I don’t really agree with. However, here’s what Politifact wrote:
“Before it collapsed, the four-lane bridge spanned 1.6 miles — and, no, the bridge does not have train tracks.
But these social media posts did not present Biden’s full statement that allowed for some ambiguity; he mentioned commuting by car.
Here’s what he said March 26 at the White House: “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.”
I think Politifact may have giggled at this one too because it seems like Joe Biden simply made a mistake and people rushed to mock it, but it’s not something that would cause harm or impact anything factual. In this case, if I was Politifact, I’d recommend that people add the full quote – which we did from the start anyway. This way people see the full statement and not just a tiny piece of it cropped out for humor. Context is definitely important, but so is getting a good laugh at the hands of a politician (I’m joking… or am I! 🙂 Either way, we’re making sure we have the context on our social pages to go along with the quote from the White House transcript below. It’s good to know Joe’s full statement and it’s good to share a laugh together too. Here’s what was recorded on White House.gov.
Good afternoon. Before I leave for North Carolina, which I’m going to do in a few minutes, I want to speak briefly about the terrible incident and accident that happened in Baltimore this morning.
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. I’ve been to Baltimore Harbor many times. And the bridge collapsed, sending several people and vehicles into the water — into the river.
No dude, you did not take a train over that bridge. You need tracks for that. Trains don’t just drive wherever they want. You should know, you’re 81-years-old, unless your memory is failing. My goodness, can we put an age limit on being president?
Maybe the age limit should be 65, unless you’re Donald Trump and show great mental awareness – something Joe Biden clearly lacks. And that’s not being mean to Joe, he’s just gotten older and his memory may have some issues. There’s nothing wrong with that. It happens to the best of us, but that doesn’t mean we need a president like this either. Some days I wonder if Joe Biden wakes up and is like “oh gosh, I forgot I’m president. What do I do today?”
