- Long before former Vice President Joe Biden became President Donald Trump’s reelection challenger, and even before Biden was vice president, Trump rebuked him for an earlier-career plagiarism scandal.
- In a 2008 CNN interview uncovered by Insider, Trump calls Biden’s plagiarism story “a very bad statement.”
- “You know, he’s also been involved in quite a big controversy like college plagiarism and whatnot,” Trump told Wolf Blitzer shortly after Biden was elected as Obama’s vice president election. “That is a pretty big statement.”
- Biden admitted to plagiarizing in an essay he presented as a Syracuse law student in 1965, to which Trump could have referred.
- In a forthcoming book by Mary Trump, President Trump’s niece is accused of cheating on her SAT to enter the University of Pennsylvania by paying someone to take the test.
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President Donald Trump’s new line of attack against former Vice President Joe Biden is not really new.
Last week, Trump accused Biden of plagiarism on weak grounds when the former vice president launched his “buy American” economic plan, but has spoken about Biden and plagiarism since 2008.
In an interview transcript uncovered by Insider, the first thing Trump jumped into when asked to consider Biden elected Obama’s vice president was Delaware’s history of plagiarism. This 2008 CNN interview sheds light on Trump’s instincts when it comes to his 2020 opponent.
When asked by Wolf Blitzer what he thought of Biden to join the ticket, Trump replied, “I really don’t know Senator Biden, but I know one thing. He ran for president multiple times. He got less than 1 percent of the vote. Each time. “
“And that’s a pretty difficult thing,” Trump continued. “You know, he’s also been involved in a pretty big controversy, like college plagiarism and whatnot. That’s a pretty big statement. So maybe you change over time. But when you plague, it’s a very bad statement.”
Leveling the plagiarism charges may not be the most solid ground for Trump, given the way his wife Melania was caught red-handed from a speech by Michelle Obama in her 2016 Republican National Convention speech, and now Trump faces questions about cheating on a SAT test.
There is no evidence that the Biden 2020 campaign has copied verbiage or figures from Trump for his “buy American” plan, though Biden’s plan reluctantly received praise from former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon.
‘A pretty serious charge’
At the 2008 sit-in with Blitzer, Trump chased Biden out of plagiarism, but not because of the 1987 plagiarism scandal that has generally generated most headlines. That involved media reports showing that Biden appeared to be lifting passages from a British Labor Party politician, which contributed to his unsuccessful 1988 presidential bid.
“That has not been mentioned yet, but I am sure it will at some point,” Trump continued. “I’m sure Sarah Palin will mention it in a debate or someone will mention it.”
Blitzer then asked if Trump was referring to the 1987 scandal.
“No, I’m talking about when I was a college student as I understand it, and this was a big problem originally, but it supposedly plagiarized as a college student,” Trump replied. “That is a pretty serious charge.”
Biden admitted to plagiarizing in an essay he presented as a Syracuse law student in 1965, to which Trump could have referred.
Trump went on to paint Biden as a potentially weaker VP election than Obama’s oldest opponent in the 2008 primaries and his eventual secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.
“More importantly, he did not get 1 percent of the vote,” Trump said of Biden during the 2008 campaign, where he only arrived in Iowa before leaving.
“Hillary got more than 50 percent of the vote. So why isn’t she choosing Hillary? It just doesn’t make sense.”
A clip of Blitzer’s 2008 interview with Trump made the round in late 2019 during the impeachment scandal, for different reasons.
Trump told Blitzer that he thought House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should have moved to impeach then-President George W. Bush when Democrats had the majority later in his presidency.
Both instances point to Trump’s assertion that he adheres to a relatively higher standard of conduct in office than he has demonstrated in his first three years in the White House.
Trump’s comments on Biden’s plagiarism are also highlighted now that he has been accused of cheating on his SAT.
Trump insisted that Biden would have to answer for his plagiarism issues in his debate against the election of Republican Vice President Sarah Palin, although the issue never came up.
“Maybe it has a good response and maybe it didn’t happen,” Trump told Blitzer. “I think it is quite serious and a very serious charge.”
