Even CNN is tired of Joe Biden lying about having been against the Iraq War

CNN has blasted Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for claiming once again that he opposed the Iraq War from the beginning, when in fact he was an advocate of the war, speaking in favor of it many times.

In a piece published on CNN's ‘Facts First’ blog Biden was scolded for “dishonestly” claiming he opposed the invasion of Iraq. The fact-check came after Biden told a voter in Iowa at the weekend that he was against the war “from the very moment” George W. Bush launched it. In reality, Biden “repeatedly spoke in favor of the war both before and after it began,” CNN wrote.

The network called Biden's comment “highly misleading even under the most generous interpretation,” given that the former VP was “actually a vocal supporter” of military action and voted to authorize Bush's use of force. 

Indeed, not only did Biden vote for the war, a whole nine months later he said that he would “vote that way again.” On the very day the bombing began, Biden said Americans should “step back and be supportive” of Bush — a far cry from his recent and disingenuous retelling of history in which he was against the disastrous invasion all along. Only after 2005 Biden started calling his vote a “mistake.”

Biden’s continued insistence that he was against the war from the get-go is somewhat strange considering his own campaign acknowledged in September that he “misspoke” the last time he made similar false statements. 

His camp has been understandably sensitive about his Iraq record and reluctant to directly respond to fellow 2020 contender Bernie Sanders’ efforts to point it out. So far, many in the media have framed Sanders’ targeting of Biden on this subject as a political “attack” — despite it being a simple statement of fact. “Pointing out that Joe was pro Iraq war isn't an attack, it's the goddamn truth,” one Sanders supporter wrote on Twitter.

However Biden tries to spin it to absolve himself of blame seventeen years later, it won’t change the facts. He was a leading Democratic voice in favor of military action against Iraq and a crucial ally of the Bush administration in the lead up, insisting repeatedly that Saddam Hussein must be removed from power. 

Biden even ruled out diplomacy at one point, saying that “dialogue with Saddam is useless.” The supposed anti-war Biden even praised Bush for “moderation and deliberation” and called Iraq a “just war” which he believed would lead to “peace and security.” He stood steadfast in his pro-war stance even as many in his own party were raising doubts.

The media has often been reluctant to needle Biden on his Iraq War vote, parroting his claims that he was “misled” by Bush and touting his foreign policy “experience” as an advantage in the 2020 election — but with even CNN calling Biden out on his record, it looks like some in the mainstream media are beginning to grow tired of the lie.

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