Delaware State University is refuting the reporting by some media outlets that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden lied about attending the school, Delaware’s only historically Black university, Delaware Online reported.
Outlets such as Fox News, The Washington Times and The Blaze reported that Biden lied and that the school disproved the claims.
Although DSU did confirm that Biden did not attend the school, the reports mischaracterized the school’s response and took Biden’s statements out of context, said DSU spokesman Carlos Holmes.
A video clip of Biden saying he got his “start” at DSU during a town hall in Florence, South Carolina, has been circulating the internet recently, after a Washington Times reporter asked DSU if Biden ever attended the school. Various media reports criticized Biden for making the false claim.
“I took it to be the question of a fact-checker or someone who needed clarity over whether he attended Delaware State University or the University of Delaware,” Holmes said. “The reporter did not mention anything about his campaign statement last year, and at that point, I was totally unaware of it.”
According to Holmes, Biden was not saying that he attended the university but was instead referring to the support from DSU when he announced his U.S. Senate bid on its campus in 1972.
“Watched in full context, it is clear that Biden was discussing his long association with historically Black colleges and universities, not making a claim that he had attended Delaware State University,” Holmes said.
President Trump raised the issue during Tuesday’s televised debate.
Biden – who attended the University of Delaware – served as DSU’s commencement speaker and received an honorary doctorate in 2003.