“And I know having had a house burn down with my wife in it - she got out safely, God willing"
(Picture: Photo courtesy of CNBC/YouTube)President Joe Biden has been accused of exaggerating his past after saying his Delaware home caught on fire with his wife inside.
However, local officials say it was a small kitchen fire.
While promoting the importance of his infrastructure bill last week on a New Hampshire bridge, Biden spoke on the 2004 fire.
“Without this bridge, as I said earlier, it’s a 10-mile detour just to get to the other side. And I know having had a house burn down with my wife in it - she got out safely, God willing,” he said to the crowd.
Biden also added that a “significant portion” of the house burned and that “10 minutes makes a hell of a difference” when the firefighters came.
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As reported by Politico in 2013, he made a similar claim during a speech in which he gave thanks to EMTs who got his “wife out” from the fire, which was contained to the kitchen and ignited by lightning.
“And in addition to my wife, you got my second-best love out of the house: my ‘67 Corvette. So thank you all. So I owe you. When I say I owe you, I mean I owe you.”
At the time of the 2004 fire, Cranston Heights Fire Company Chief George Lamborn said that they got to the fire “pretty early” and that the blaze “was under control in 20 minutes.”
He also said that there were no injuries.
This isn’t the first time that Biden has exaggerated stories over the years.
Last month, he told a story about his love for Amtrak train travel and his apparent closeness with former conductor Angelo Negri. But the story was centered around his time as vice president, and Negri retired in 1993 and passed away in 2014.
