Fox News host Tucker Carlson has hit out at Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, accusing the veteran politician of exaggerating his life story to bolster his public image.
Speaking on Fox News Thursday, Carlson suggested the Biden's campaign was faltering, despite polling consistently among the top Democratic candidates.
At an event in New Hampshire last week, Biden told a crowd that he traveled to Kunar Province in Afghanistan at the request of a four-star general, to pin a Silver Star on a soldier who had "rappelled down a 60-foot ravine under fire and retrieved the body of an American comrade, carrying him on his back."
But Biden said the soldier was reluctant to accept the commendation because his comrade died. According to The Washington Post, the emotional story was actually a conflation of two different visits to Afghanistan during which he met soldiers celebrated for heroic acts.
Carlson was not impressed by Biden's story, even though he did suggested the former senator was the "most reasonable guy" in the Democratic contest. The host took particular issue with Biden's claim to have braved war zones in the line of duty.
"He has spent almost 50 years surrounded by armed bodyguards yet somehow whenever he talks he makes his life sound like a cross between 'Saving private Ryan' and a Mount Everest expedition," he said.
At one point in his speech, Biden said military officials were worried about him taking a helicopter to visit troops on the front line. "We can lose a vice president, we can't lose many more of these kids," he recalled saying in response.
"That's just barf," Carlson said. "But the worst part is that the story wasn't even true. It turned out to be a jumbled mashup of a bunch of different stories with all the facts wrong—even The Washington Post noticed and trust me they have every incentive to lie about it, they often do," he added.
According to the Post, Biden was wrong about when and where the visit occurred, what the heroic act was, what military branch the soldier in question belonged to and what his rank was.
In response to the Post's report, Biden said: "The story was that he refused the medal because the fella he tried to save—and risked his life saving—died...That's the beginning, middle and end. The rest of you guys can take it and do what you want with it."
But Carlson said he was not convinced. "Holy smokes. What to make of that? We throw our hands up," he told viewers.
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