Joe Biden told a harrowing story during an event in 2017 about facing down a razor-wielding gang leader named Corn Pop in his youth by threatening to “wrap” a chain around the man’s head. The incident came back into the spotlight over the weekend when footage of Biden’s remarks began circulating social media.
The former vice president, who has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for embellishing portions of his personal and political life, told the story when being honored with having a community pool named after him in a Wilmington, Delaware, historically black neighborhood. Biden had reportedly been the only white lifeguard at the pool during the early 1960s when segregation was still in effect.
The event started with Biden discussing how his time as a lifeguard had opened his eyes about racial injustice and privilege. It, however, quickly took a strange turn when Biden, flanked by children from the local community, decided to recount a nearly violent altercation he had at the pool with a misbehaving swimmer.
Dave Portnoy Shocked by People Who Fled ‘Countries That Are Disasters’ Spreading Socialism Across US
Two US service members killed in Iranian strikes on Jordan, CENTCOM says
Maine Dem Opens Fundraising Pitch By Saying ICE Shooting Caused Her to Freeze Up During Debate
Kentucky governor says he received 2 calls from agencies indicating McConnell had ‘passed’
Far-left activist conference at teachers union HQ raises classroom concerns
California man admits targeting 3 Subway restaurants for robberies in less than a week, FBI says
Pratt takes Walz to task in scathing X post over pardoned child rapist: ‘Have your hard drives checked’
US forest service workers kidnapped, ziptied for hours by father-son duo: California AG
New Poll Suggests Jewish Americans Feel Isolated As Antisemitism Grows
$225,000,000 In ‘Hideous’ Fraud Schemes Found Across US Schools, Report Alleges
Turns Out Voters Actually Favor Reason Over Rage Bait. Go Figure
‘The Invite’ with Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen is full of awful, immoral assumptions
How China stole voter registration from 220 million US citizens, according to declassified materials
Mike Waltz, Tim Tebow launch effort to combat online child exploitation: ‘It’s happening in their backyard’
The ‘Little House’ remake is bland, boring, and politically correct
“Corn Pop was a bad dude, and he ran a bunch of bad boys. Back in those days, to show how things have changed … if you used pomade in your hair, you had to wear a bathing cap,” Biden said. “He was up on the board and wouldn’t listen to me, so I said ‘Hey, Esther, you, off the board or I’ll come up and drag you off.’”
Corn Pop, according to the former vice president, did not take kindly to being called “Esther” — an “emasculating” reference to the 1950s swimmer Esther Williams, as the Washington Post noted — and promised to “meet” him outside. Biden realized he had to take Corn Pop seriously when he purportedly saw the gang leader waiting around for him with three other guys carrying straight razors.
This is BIZARRE!
Here's Joe Biden telling the story of his face-off with a gang of razor-wielding ne'er-do-wells led by a guy named 'Corn Pop.' pic.twitter.com/DddRtWgdza— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) September 15, 2019
Dave Portnoy Shocked by People Who Fled ‘Countries That Are Disasters’ Spreading Socialism Across US
Two US service members killed in Iranian strikes on Jordan, CENTCOM says
Maine Dem Opens Fundraising Pitch By Saying ICE Shooting Caused Her to Freeze Up During Debate
Kentucky governor says he received 2 calls from agencies indicating McConnell had ‘passed’
Far-left activist conference at teachers union HQ raises classroom concerns
California man admits targeting 3 Subway restaurants for robberies in less than a week, FBI says
Pratt takes Walz to task in scathing X post over pardoned child rapist: ‘Have your hard drives checked’
US forest service workers kidnapped, ziptied for hours by father-son duo: California AG
New Poll Suggests Jewish Americans Feel Isolated As Antisemitism Grows
$225,000,000 In ‘Hideous’ Fraud Schemes Found Across US Schools, Report Alleges
Turns Out Voters Actually Favor Reason Over Rage Bait. Go Figure
‘The Invite’ with Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen is full of awful, immoral assumptions
How China stole voter registration from 220 million US citizens, according to declassified materials
Mike Waltz, Tim Tebow launch effort to combat online child exploitation: ‘It’s happening in their backyard’
The ‘Little House’ remake is bland, boring, and politically correct
In his 2007 autobiography, Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics, Biden admitted that he specifically signaled out Corn Pop for violating the pool’s rules to show he “wasn’t an easy mark.” The former vice president also wrote that his first instinct was to call the police, but he was convinced by the pool’s mechanic, a white former Navy sailor named Bill Wright, that doing so would ensure he would never be trusted by the neighborhood’s black community. Instead, Wright suggested Biden confront Corn Pop and the others with “a six-foot length of chain.”
Biden, as he described in his autobiography, took the advice, walked outside, and said, “You might cut me, Corn Pop, but I’m going to wrap this chain around your head before you do.”
“I looked at him, but I was smart then,” Biden told the audience in 2017. He said he told Corn Pop, “first of all, when I tell you to get off the board, you get off the board, and I’ll kick you out again, but I shouldn’t have called you Esther Williams. I apologize for that. … I apologize for what I said.”
Dave Portnoy Shocked by People Who Fled ‘Countries That Are Disasters’ Spreading Socialism Across US
Two US service members killed in Iranian strikes on Jordan, CENTCOM says
Maine Dem Opens Fundraising Pitch By Saying ICE Shooting Caused Her to Freeze Up During Debate
Kentucky governor says he received 2 calls from agencies indicating McConnell had ‘passed’
Far-left activist conference at teachers union HQ raises classroom concerns
California man admits targeting 3 Subway restaurants for robberies in less than a week, FBI says
Pratt takes Walz to task in scathing X post over pardoned child rapist: ‘Have your hard drives checked’
US forest service workers kidnapped, ziptied for hours by father-son duo: California AG
New Poll Suggests Jewish Americans Feel Isolated As Antisemitism Grows
$225,000,000 In ‘Hideous’ Fraud Schemes Found Across US Schools, Report Alleges
Turns Out Voters Actually Favor Reason Over Rage Bait. Go Figure
‘The Invite’ with Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen is full of awful, immoral assumptions
How China stole voter registration from 220 million US citizens, according to declassified materials
Mike Waltz, Tim Tebow launch effort to combat online child exploitation: ‘It’s happening in their backyard’
The ‘Little House’ remake is bland, boring, and politically correct
The apology seemed to diffuse the situation, much to Biden’s relief.
“He said ‘okay,’ closed his straight razor, and my heart began to beat again,” the former vice president said.
The story came back into the spotlight on Saturday after numerous individuals shared clips from the 2017 pool dedication on social media. Many of those seeing the clip for the first time immediately accused the former vice president of fabricating the story. Most notably, Michael Harriot, a senior writer for The Root, took to social media to blast the story as “alien-like.”
Thread: I'm always astounded by the imaginings of white people as it relates to race. Many of them have this fictionalized jigaboo version that is almost alien-like. And one of the greatest examples of this ever is Joe Biden's story about Corn Pop the gangsta.
— michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) September 14, 2019
Anyway, during Biden's Negro Summer Safari Adventure, one day, all of the town gangsters came to the pool.
Now I know what you're thinking, but don't stereotype. Gangbangers are NOT a monolith.
— michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) September 14, 2019
Dave Portnoy Shocked by People Who Fled ‘Countries That Are Disasters’ Spreading Socialism Across US
Two US service members killed in Iranian strikes on Jordan, CENTCOM says
Maine Dem Opens Fundraising Pitch By Saying ICE Shooting Caused Her to Freeze Up During Debate
Kentucky governor says he received 2 calls from agencies indicating McConnell had ‘passed’
Far-left activist conference at teachers union HQ raises classroom concerns
California man admits targeting 3 Subway restaurants for robberies in less than a week, FBI says
Pratt takes Walz to task in scathing X post over pardoned child rapist: ‘Have your hard drives checked’
US forest service workers kidnapped, ziptied for hours by father-son duo: California AG
New Poll Suggests Jewish Americans Feel Isolated As Antisemitism Grows
$225,000,000 In ‘Hideous’ Fraud Schemes Found Across US Schools, Report Alleges
Turns Out Voters Actually Favor Reason Over Rage Bait. Go Figure
‘The Invite’ with Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen is full of awful, immoral assumptions
How China stole voter registration from 220 million US citizens, according to declassified materials
Mike Waltz, Tim Tebow launch effort to combat online child exploitation: ‘It’s happening in their backyard’
The ‘Little House’ remake is bland, boring, and politically correct
They told Biden that Corn Pop carried a straight razor and was gonna be waiting for him when he got off work. Now you and I both know that, if this was true, Biden would've just called the cops to walk him to the car.
— michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) September 14, 2019
When he went out to the car, Corn Pop was indeed waiting for him. But Biden went Clint Eastwood on Corn and told OG Pop from the Romans:
"You might cut me, Corn Pop, but I’m going to wrap this chain around your head before you do."
Again, that is a direct quote.
— michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) September 14, 2019
Dave Portnoy Shocked by People Who Fled ‘Countries That Are Disasters’ Spreading Socialism Across US
Two US service members killed in Iranian strikes on Jordan, CENTCOM says
Maine Dem Opens Fundraising Pitch By Saying ICE Shooting Caused Her to Freeze Up During Debate
Kentucky governor says he received 2 calls from agencies indicating McConnell had ‘passed’
Far-left activist conference at teachers union HQ raises classroom concerns
California man admits targeting 3 Subway restaurants for robberies in less than a week, FBI says
Pratt takes Walz to task in scathing X post over pardoned child rapist: ‘Have your hard drives checked’
US forest service workers kidnapped, ziptied for hours by father-son duo: California AG
New Poll Suggests Jewish Americans Feel Isolated As Antisemitism Grows
$225,000,000 In ‘Hideous’ Fraud Schemes Found Across US Schools, Report Alleges
Turns Out Voters Actually Favor Reason Over Rage Bait. Go Figure
‘The Invite’ with Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen is full of awful, immoral assumptions
How China stole voter registration from 220 million US citizens, according to declassified materials
Mike Waltz, Tim Tebow launch effort to combat online child exploitation: ‘It’s happening in their backyard’
The ‘Little House’ remake is bland, boring, and politically correct
Although Biden’s retelling of the altercation was corroborated at the dedication ceremony by a former chairman of the Delaware NAACP, those unaware of the fact agreed with Harriot that the story seemed comically embellished if not totally concocted.
Biden, himself, has not done his credibility any favors in recent weeks by downplaying his fabrication of an emotional story about the war in Afghanistan, even after the Post debunked nearly every detail.
Story cited here.
