Fact Check: Was Biden 'Very Engaged' in the Civil Rights Movement?

Leah Barkoukis | September 07, 2022 2:15 PM

Speaking in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Labor Day, President Biden touched on his involvement in the Civil Rights movement during his younger years—something he's done on numerous occasions. Each time, however, the president's comments prompt new rounds of fact checks. This time is no different.

CLAIM: "And we know what happened was, about midway through my — I got elected to — I got very engaged in — in my case, the Civil Rights Movement. And — and as a kid, I was — I worked a lot in the movement at work."

FACTS: As with his previous claims, The Washington Post was able to trace his participation in a restaurant walkout and the picketing of a movie theater, but to state he was "very engaged" in the Civil Rights movement is a gross exaggeration. Biden himself said so during a speech in 1987.

"During the '60s, I was, in fact, very concerned about the civil rights movement," said Biden, then a presidential candidate. "I was not an activist. I worked at an all-Black swimming pool in the east side of Wilmington, Delaware. I was involved in what they were thinking, in what they were feeling."

He added: "But I was not out marching, I was not down in Selma. I was not anywhere else."