Joe Biden remains one of Syracuse University’s most notable alumni more than 50 years after he graduated from the university’s College of Law in 1968. At Wednesday night’s Democratic primary debate, Biden brought up his connection to SU during a tense exchange with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. 

Talking about her support for women in the workforce, Gillibrand took aim at Biden’s past statements on child care. She cited a 1981 op-ed in which Biden, then a senator, argued against legislation that would’ve provided tax credits for child care.

“He wrote an op-ed that he believed that women working outside the home would ‘create the deterioration of family.’” Gillibrand said. “He also said the women who were working outside the home were ‘avoiding responsibility.’”

The op-ed Biden wrote doesn’t oppose tax credits for child care. Instead, Biden suggested the Senate should amend the legislation to make “upper income” families ineligible for the tax breaks. Biden wrote that he didn’t believe in forcing lower income families to “subsidize an upper income family’s day care.” 

The 1981 op-ed written by Biden.

Gillibrand demanded Biden explain what he meant by “deterioration of family.” 

“I wanted the child care to go to people making less than a $100,000, and that’s what it was about,” Biden said. “As a single father who in fact raised three children for five years by myself, I have some idea what it costs. I support making sure every single solitary person needing child care gets an $8,000 tax credit now.”

Gillibrand rejected Biden’s defense and claimed she was quoting him directly. She was, but out of context. At no point in Biden’s op-ed does he write that, as Gillibrand claimed, he believes women working outside the home would deteriorate family or represent an evasion of responsibility.

Pivoting the discussion to his record, Biden said he was “deeply involved” in writing the Violence Against Women Act and equal pay legislation and proposed the It’s On Us organization that fights sexual assault on college campuses. This is where SU comes in. 

Biden, promoting the It’s On Us campaign, gave a speech in SU’s Goldstein Auditorium in November 2015. He encouraged men to become more involved in combating sexual assault. Gillibrand joined Biden on that visit to SU. At the time, she tweeted that she was “honored” to join Biden at SU. 

Honored to join @VP Biden at @SyracuseU for an impt #ItsOnUsSU event to raise awareness about campus sexual assault. https://t.co/ILG7qCcSLs

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) November 12, 2015

“You came to Syracuse University with me and said it was wonderful,” Biden said to Gillibrand at the debate. “I’m passionate about the concerns of making sure women are treated equally. I don’t know what’s happened except that you’re now running for president.”

The debate audience in Detroit applauded Biden’s clapback. Biden used his connection to his alma mater to defend himself in Wednesday’s debate. His record at SU, however, helped torpedo his first presidential campaign in 1987. 

In September 1987, Biden admitted that he had plagiarized a law review article for an essay in his first year at SU’s College of Law. He defended the plagiarism as “a mistake” that wasn’t “malevolent.” At the time, Biden was already facing accusations of plagiarizing campaign speeches. 

He released 65 pages of his records from SU as a show of transparency. They revealed lackluster grades and mixed evaluations from professors — contradicting his previous claims that he graduated in the top half of his class. He was actually 76th of 85 in his law school class.  

Both the dean of SU’s College of Law and Biden’s professor downplayed the severity of the plagiarism when it was reported in 1987. He had copied portions of a law review article from Fordham University but only used a single footnote referring to the article. In 1965, a young Biden wrote a letter defending himself to the college that said, “If I had intended to cheat, would I have been so stupid?”

Published on August 1, 2019 at 12:37 am

Contact Casey: [email protected] | @caseydarnell_