President Biden once joked that he was “disheartened” to learn that his great-grandfather was not part of the gang that killed a bigoted mine supervisor.
The president spoke about his ancestor, Edward Francis Blueitt, at a rally in Pittsburgh on Monday in support of Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I remember my great-grandfather was the second Catholic ever elected to the Senate here in Pennsylvania,” Biden told the audience, “and I remember when he ran against my great-grandfather in 1906, people said, 'Guess what? He's a Molly Maguire.'
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President Biden spoke to reporters on the White House South Lawn in Washington, DC, after returning from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“A lot of the people who owned the mines were British, and they beat up the mostly Catholic people there really badly. I'm not kidding,” Biden continued. “But they also had a group called the Molly Maguires, who, if they found out that a foreman was taking advantage of an individual, they would literally kill him. I'm not kidding. And then they would take the body out and put it on the family's doorstep.”
Harris nodded as the president recounted a story about his maternal ancestors, an anecdote he also used during his campaign with former President Barack Obama.
“It's a little vulgar to say it, but I have to admit, they accused my great-grandfather of being a Molly Maguire. He wasn't, but we're really disappointed,” Biden told the audience, before declaring, “That's a joke. That's a joke.”
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President Biden spoke at a campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris at IBEW Local 5 in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The Pennsylvania State Senate Library confirms that Blewitt was the second Catholic elected to the state legislature in 1907. He succeeded William McSherry, who served from 1813 to 1817.
Biden's appearance in Pittsburgh marks his return from a low-profile vacation of about a week in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
The break was followed immediately by a six-day jaunt to the California ranch of Democratic donor Joe Kiani, as Biden cleared his work schedule ahead of a weeks-long getaway.
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Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris was surrounded by labor leaders as she addressed union members at a campaign event at Northwestern High School in Detroit. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Biden's brutal defeat to former President Donald Trump in a debate in late June has further fueled Americans' concerns about whether the 81-year-old president has the physical and mental strength to serve in the White House for another four years.
It also led to growing calls from key Democratic allies and elected officials for Biden to drop out of the race, which he did on July 21 and almost immediately endorsed Harris.
While most of the latest national polls show Harris leading Trump by small single-digit margins, the presidential election is not about the national popular vote — it's about states and their electoral votes.
Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
