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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden added to his growing list of gaffes and eyebrow-raising comments by rewriting history in Wisconsin.
During a town hall event in Kenosha on Thursday, the former vice president left many scratching their heads when he decried the history being taught in schools as he declared that a black man invented the light bulb, “not a white guy named Edison.”
(Source: C-SPAN)
After a meeting with the family of Jacob Blake, who is recovering after police shot him multiple times in an incident last month, Biden addressed a small group of people at a town hall held at Grace Lutheran Church where he made several remarks that caught attention.
At one point, the 77-year-old criticized the American educational system and claimed that the light bulb was not, in fact, invented by Thomas Edison.
“I cannot guarantee everything gets solved in four years, but I guarantee you one thing: It will be a whole heck of a lot better,” Biden said, promising a change if he is elected in November. “We will move a lot further down the road.”
“People fear that which is different,” he continued.
“We gotta, for example, why in God’s name don’t we teach history in history classes?” he wondered, speaking to the audience through his protective face mask “A black man invented the light bulb, not a white guy named Edison. OK? There’s so much. Did anybody know?”
Biden was apparently referring to Lewis Howard Latimer, the black inventor who worked as an assistant to inventor Alexander Graham Bell before teaming up with Edison. The first incandescent light bulb was created by Edison and then patented in 1879, as history correctly teaches.
Here’s what Google taught me pic.twitter.com/mi14F2SvSn
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 3, 2020
Latimer later improved on the design in 1881 using a carbon filament rather than Edison’s paper filament which was not as durable. He patented his new take on Edison’s invention in 1882, according to History.com. Though Latimer’s contributions and work are justly praised, the idea that he was the inventor of the light bulb was refuted again by the fact-checking site LeadStories.com,
Biden’s history remarks were not the only ones that got attention on Thursday.
The weirdest part of Biden’s speech in Kenosha pic.twitter.com/ISVuFz9sJw
— Poland Loves Trump 🇵🇱 (@Woj_Pawelczyk) September 3, 2020
At one point, he quipped about not talking too long on his tax policy because “they’ll shoot me,” an awkward choice of words considering the events that had transpired in the city.
In Kenosha, Wisconsin following the shooting of Jacob Blake, Joe Biden starts to rant about raising taxes and then catches himself:
“Not going to lay out for you, I won’t now because they’ll shoot me” pic.twitter.com/qoI2GrUfHq
— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) September 3, 2020
Meanwhile, Biden’s claim about the light bulb lit up social media.
Lewis Latimer was brilliant, deserving of all the credit due him, and that fact has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Biden just used him to fuel a narrative of race division which is all he knows how to do. He’s been a con man for 50 years.
— kevin quillen (@kquillen79) September 4, 2020
Biden pandering to the AA communities in Kenosha is the most racist, insincere bs I’ve ever seen. He made it seem like Edison was part of some white supremacy lie but couldnt even take the time to research the name of the “black guy” he thinks created the lightbulb (he didn’t)
— Gatrick (@gatrick_) September 4, 2020
Yep and Al Gore invented the internet. True story.
— Angela Z (@angela_awz) September 3, 2020
That’s one Olympic quality pandering.
— Daddio (@MusingDave) September 3, 2020
Ladies and Gentlemen, your Democratic presidential nominee.
— @KevinGutzman (@KevinGutzman) September 3, 2020
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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