Biden exaggerates his visits to Iraq and Afghanistan at veterans town hall in Delaware

Fact-checker has rated Biden’s claim on number of Iraq, Afghanistan visits ‘false’

President Biden was speaking at a town hall event with veterans Friday when he repeated a false claim about the number of times he’s visited Iraq and Afghanistan.

The president was the featured speaker at a town hall event hosted by Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., the last Vietnam veteran serving in the Senate, at the Major Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center near New Castle, Delaware. Elected officials and veterans groups gathered there Friday to discuss the PACT Act — legislation Biden signed that expands medical benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances from burn pits.

“I’ve been in and out, not as, obviously, a combatant, but in and out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and those areas 38, 39 times as vice president, only twice as president,” Biden told his audience as he related discussions that occurred before the law was enacted.

The president exaggerated the number of times he’s visited the Middle East, which he has done before. In his first State of the Union address, Biden falsely claimed he had traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan “over 40 times.” The actual number is closer to 21 times, according to a PolitiFact fact-check that rated his claim “false” in March.

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