Biden defends faulty telling of military heroism story

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) – Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is defending his faulty description of a tale of military heroism and his interactions with service members.

The Washington Post reports that Biden recently told a campaign audience an emotional story of pinning a medal on a heartbroken service member. But the former vice president got many of the details wrong.

Biden responded in an interview with a South Carolina newspaper Thursday that the “essence” of his story was correct because the Post found another service member with different details who confirmed key portions of Biden’s recollection.

The story comes as the 76-year-old Biden faces more scrutiny over verbal missteps on the campaign trail.