Biden repeats false claim son Beau died in Iraq, incorrectly states he ran for president while vice president

President Biden on Friday repeated a false claim that his son, Beau Biden, died while serving in the Iraq War, but also incorrectly stated he ran for president while serving as vice president under former President Barack Obama.

“You know, the bottom line is this – I ran for president – I ran for president for a basic reason. I hadn’t planned on running again for president,” Biden said during a speech at Nash Community College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. 

“I had run when I was vice president, and then Barack and I spent eight years together, and then the new administration came in, and, in the meantime, things changed in our life and our family. I lost my son – we lost our son in Iraq. Anyway – I hadn’t planned on running,” he added.

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In contrast to his claims, Beau tragically passed away from glioblastoma in May 2015 at Walter Reed military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Beau served a tour in Iraq from 2008 to 2009. 

Biden maintains that his son’s illness may have been caused by toxic burn pits in Iraq, but has still made the claim about his son dying in Iraq on numerous other occasions. Those instances include last month while speaking to Marines stationed in Japan, and in 2022 during a speech in Colorado.

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His additional statement that he ran for president while serving as vice president appeared to be a point of confusion, considering he unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007, but did not run again until the 2020 presidential primaries.