Former President Joe Biden stepped back into the spotlight Friday night for what aides quietly described as a “rare public appearance,” delivering a meandering speech in Columbia, South Carolina that left many Republicans stunned and even some Democrats uneasy.
At 83, Biden acknowledged the elephant in the room right away. “I’m getting pretty old,” he said, coughing mid-sentence and pausing for several moments before continuing. “Forty times two, plus a lot more.”
FORMER PRESIDENT BIDEN: “The day I left office, border crossings in the United States were lower than the day that I entered an office inherited from Trump. He is — I won't say it. That's just a fact.”
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 28, 2026
“On the day I left office, I handed Trump the strongest economy in the world.… pic.twitter.com/ZfB0eKkrEF
Audience members politely laughed, but several reporters in the room noted that the former president appeared frail and at times struggled to maintain his train of thought.
Biden’s age dominated headlines throughout the 2024 campaign, culminating in his disastrous debate performance against then-candidate Donald Trump. Biden blamed that performance on a “cold,” but Democratic strategists privately cited cognitive decline, pressure from donors, and internal polling as the real reasons he withdrew from the race.
Friday’s event was advertised as a nostalgic commemoration of Biden’s 2020 South Carolina primary win, the moment that rescued his collapsing campaign and propelled him into the White House. But the speech quickly morphed into a revisionist history lecture.
Biden boasted about his performance on illegal immigration, a topic where voters consistently gave him the lowest approval ratings of his presidency.
“Despite everything you read, the day I left office, border crossings were lower than the day I entered that office,” Biden claimed. “That’s just a fact.”
But the numbers tell a different story.
During Biden’s four years in office, an average of roughly 2.4 million migrants entered the United States annually. Most crossed illegally. By March 2021—just two months into his term—the border surge had already surpassed every record set during the Trump administration.
Only in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign, facing political collapse, did Biden attempt to shut down the border he had previously insisted was “secure.”
In South Carolina, Biden also insisted he handed President Trump the “strongest economy in the world.”
“That’s not hyperbole,” he said. “That’s a fact.”
Economists across the political spectrum disagree. Inflation had soared to generational highs under Biden, wages fell behind cost-of-living increases, energy prices spiked, and mortgage rates reached their highest point in decades. Biden’s critics argue that Trump’s 2025-2026 economic rebound only underscores how deeply the previous administration had weakened the economy.
The former president also took repeated jabs at President Trump, at one point asking the crowd, “Is he still talking?” while referencing Trump’s widely praised State of the Union address earlier this month.
Reactions poured in online within minutes.
“He either believes this stuff or he’s too senile to realize it’s not true,” political commentator Greg Price posted on X.
Conservative activist Kris Kinder wrote, “Biden is a shameless liar. Nothing he’s saying matches reality.”
Radio host Tom Steele responded, “This is peak disingenuity. He’s rewriting history in real time.”
Another user summed up the general mood on social media: “I’m sorry, but this is insane.”
While Democrats framed Biden’s appearance as a “celebration,” Republicans saw something very different: a former president trying to reclaim relevance, rewriting the past, and struggling to project the vitality he insisted he still had during the 2024 campaign.
For many watching, the night only reinforced why voters overwhelmingly chose President Trump in 2024 — and why Biden’s time on the political stage may finally be coming to an end.
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I think Bill and Hillary Clinton are the worst liars that have lead the way for the rest of the lying democrats. DENY DENY DENY No matter how much proof is thrown at them. They are disgusting!
When are they going to string this airheaded ASSHOLE up??
It’s not that lies so much as it is that he’s lived in a make-believe word for so many years that he’s come to believe and repeat anything he’s told by his long time handlers or created within his own limited brain.