Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is pushing back against criticism of his inaccurate portrayal of multiple war stories, saying the details are "irrelevant" to policy decisions.
In a newly released episode of the NPR Politics Podcast, Biden was asked about recent criticism of his various inaccuracies when telling stories about prior experiences. Podcast co-host Asma Khalid said she talked to some of Biden's supporters and they didn't seem to mind his gaffes, but added, "Do you not feel that the details, not just the intentions, matter when you're making decisions as president?"
"Well, they're two fundamentally different questions you're asking me," Biden said. "You guys love to conflate these things. Number one is: I stood up and talked about pinning a medal on a young man who did not want the medal and was a brave brave, young man."
The Washington Post published a piece last week on a war story Biden often tells on the campaign trail, saying it was false in nearly every detail.
The former vice president went on to retell some of the war stories that led to scrutiny for inaccurate details before becoming more defensive. He explained the way he messed up the details but went on to argue it did not affect his larger point.
"I was making a point about a generation. That has nothing to do with a judgment of whether or not you send troops to war or the judgment of whether you bring someone home, the judgment of whether or not you decide on a health care policy," Biden said.
"Not judgment, but details," Khalid said. "That's something I have heard from some voters. Maybe not at your events, but details."
"The details are irrelevant in terms of decision making if in fact I forget that it was Rodriguez all the times," Biden said. "I have been in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq and Bosnia and Kosovo as much as anybody except maybe my deceased friend John McCain and maybe Lindsey Graham and so the fact that I would forget that it was Rodriguez who was pinning—I believe this is the case—pinning a Bronze Star on a young man was. It's irrelevant to the point."
When Biden was asked about the Post piece last week, he pushed back in a pre-scheduled interview with the Post and Courier.
"I don’t understand what they’re talking about, but the central point is it was absolutely accurate what I said," Biden said. "He refused the medal. I put it on him, he said, ‘Don’t do that to me, sir. He died. He died.’"
"I think it’s ridiculous. The essence—that there’s anything I said about that that wasn’t the essence of the story. The story was that he refused the medal because the fella he tried to save and risked his life saving died," Biden continued. "That’s the beginning, middle and end. The rest of you guys can take it and do what you want with it."
He also hit back at the media in the NPR interview, finishing his comments by telling Khalid, "It's irrelevant and you know it."