President Biden on Saturday, in his commencement speech at West Point, repeated the claim that he turned down an offer to attend the U.S. Naval Academy to play football.
Biden told the West Point graduates that Sen. Jay Caleb Boggs, the Republican he elected to the Senate, had “appointed” him to the Naval Academy years before the two men ran against each other in 1972.
Before the interview, the president recalled, “I found out two days ago that they had a quarterback named Roger Staubach and a halfback named Joe Bellino. So I said I’m not going there, I’m going to Delaware. No kidding!”
It’s the same story Biden told to the Naval Academy’s graduating class of 2022. At the time, Biden claimed he was accepted into the school in 1965 but declined to attend, but he did not provide a specific date when telling the story on Saturday.
2024 wild card: Will Trump’s criminal trial sway the White House race?
President Joe Biden addresses the Class of 2024 during West Point’s commencement ceremony in West Point, New York, May 25, 2024. West Point’s graduation ceremony is held at Michie Stadium and sees approximately 1,000 cadets graduate and commission as second lieutenants in the Army. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
Staubach, a Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Famer, played his first game for Navy in 1962. Bellino, the first Naval Academy graduate to win the Heisman Trophy, played his final game in January 1961.
Biden played for Archmere Academy’s high school team in Claymont, graduating in 1961. As a senior, he played wide receiver and scored 10 touchdowns in eight games. The team went undefeated that year, Yahoo Sports reported in 2021.
CNN reporter warns that Biden’s approval rating in presidential primaries is historically “weak, weak, weak”
Biden attended the University of Delaware, graduating in 1965. He reportedly played briefly on the 1961 freshman team but did not finish the season.
Dallas Cowboys’ Roger Staubach throws the football during the Super Bowl game against the Denver Broncos in New Orleans. (Bettman/Getty Images)
“I was a leader in almost any group,” Biden wrote in his autobiography, “Promises to Keep.” “I was the leading scorer on an undefeated, untied football team my senior year of high school and I never lacked confidence on the field.”
Staubach graduated from the Naval Academy in 1964 and served in the Vietnam War before playing 11 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys. Bellino, who also served in the Vietnam War and had a brief stint in the NFL, graduated in 1961, at least four years before Biden claims he was considering playing football for the Corps of Cadets.
‘Crisis at the front gate’: Republican governor slams Biden after illegal immigrants try to sneak onto military base
Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images (Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
RNC Research, an X-account run by the Republican National Committee’s emergency response team, said Biden’s claims were questionable.
“He has repeated this lie many times before and there is still no record of it actually happening,” the Republican National Committee posted.
Click here to get the FOX News app
Biden’s speech at West Point will mark the second time a president has attended a military academy graduation, having spoken as vice president at the 2016 commencement.
