Never has religious liberty been more seriously threatened than it is today. That the man responsible for this all-out assault professes to be a Catholic is all the more offensive. It is his Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that are leading the charge.

News of Biden’s latest war on religious liberty was selectively leaked to the media. A draft memo by OCR to HHS indicated the Biden administration was planning to revoke the Trump administration’s policies governing religious liberty, including conscience rights. On December 7, 2021 the Trump era protections were overturned.

HHS, under the leadership of Secretary Xavier Becerra, who has a long record of trampling on religious liberty, has worked in tandem with OCR to gut the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). In his capacity as California Attorney General, he sued the Little Sisters of the Poor for resisting the HHS mandate of the Obama administration; it tried to force the nuns to provide for abortion-inducing drugs in their healthcare plans.

OCR has contended that the Trump administration “took an expansive view of the use of RFRA that resulted in negative impacts for underserved communities.” Translated this means that attempts of radical homosexual and transgender activists to impose their secular agenda on religious institutions and agencies were blocked from doing so by the previous administration. The Biden team wants to undo all of that.

We were delighted that Sen. James Lankford called out the Biden administration on this issue. Unfortunately, another news story broke, detailing how matters have only worsened.

Becerra is actively seeking to eviscerate a wide range of religious liberty exemptions that lawmakers and the courts have granted. He is doing an end run around legislators, appealing directly to the courts to satisfy his agenda. In court filings obtained by the Catholic Benefits Association, there is a symbiotic relationship between HHS and radical left-wing activist organizations, the most prominent of which is the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

The evidence shows that transgender rights and abortion rights are being pursued full throttle. Their success depends on the destruction of religious liberty exemptions put in place by the courts, lawmakers and administrative agencies. More than any other entity, it is Catholic institutions that are under the most severe attack.

If Biden gets his way, Catholic doctors and hospitals will lose their autonomy. They will either have to shut down or bend to the anti-Catholic norms of his administration. It’s just that serious.

Currently, no Catholic doctor can be forced to perform gender-transition surgery, and Catholic hospitals can refuse a request by a transgender woman—meaning a man who claims to be a woman—from doing a hysterectomy. Biden wants to change that. He also wants to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. Not to be outdone, Biden wants to deny Catholic hospitals the right not to hire abortionists, doctors who perform abortions.

Biden has also invented a new right: the right of “socially infertile” single persons and homosexual couples to receive fertility treatments. His administration actually believes that these people cannot “reproduce via sexual intercourse due to social factors (our italic).” And what might these social factors be? A “lack of a partner or because of a person’s sexual orientation.”

In other words, it is not biology that stops single people and homosexual couples from having babies—it is society. This is the kind of insanity that happens when nature, and nature’s God, are dismissed and disdained. Regrettably, not only is this nonsense accepted by left-wing organizations, it is embraced by the ruling class, including elites in the healthcare industry. None of them have the guts to call this out for what it is—madness. They are complicit in this contrived universe.

Similarly, denying a woman an abortion, or what Biden prefers to call “termination of pregnancy,” is a matter of sex discrimination. He, and those who work for him, claim that men can also become pregnant. Yet none of them can provide a scintilla of evidence—taken from any country in the history of the world—to verify this baseless claim.

There are several pieces of legislation written by Democrats, such as the Equality Act, that are designed to crush Catholic institutions, but they have been stalled in committee due to their lack of public support. That is why OCR and HHS have elected to bypass Congress and seek court approval for their extremist policies.

The Leadership Conference, which is feeding the Biden team, is comprised of many familiar left-wing organizations. The ACLU, American Atheists, the Anti-Defamation League, the Human Rights Campaign, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for American Progress are all on board. Their hostility to religious liberty in general, and Catholic rights in particular, are well known. What is not widely known is that AARP is a member of this organization. Catholics take note.

We contacted every senator, in both parties, about our concerns and asked our subscribers to contact their senators and voice their objections to this radical agenda.

Congressman Thomas Massie’s Christmas card showed a picture of him and six other members of his family each holding a long gun. The card carries the inscription, “Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo.” A photo of the card was posted on Twitter on December 4.

Massie was criticized for doing so, drawing the ire of those who say that this card came on the heels of the Michigan school shooting. On December 6, he stood his ground saying he would not delete the photo.

Rep. Massie’s Christmas card was offensive, but not because we believed he intentionally tried to make a statement relative to what happened in Michigan.

The gun imagery was in bad taste. If this needed to be explained, then he has an even bigger problem. Most importantly, it had absolutely nothing to do with honoring the meaning of Christmas.

Throughout the years, we have objected to the dumbing-down of Christmas, using it as a medium to make statements that are extrinsic to the meaning of Christmas. Whether it was a nativity scene with animals in lieu of the Holy Family, or Christmas cards that were nothing more than a family album, the trend has been to relegate the birth of Jesus to a second-class status. That’s why Massie’s contribution was not welcome.

In 2006, Bill Donohue received a Christmas card from President George W. Bush and the First Lady. When asked by the Washington Post if he objected to its secular tone—”Merry Christmas” was noticeably absent—Donohue said that while he did not like it, he assumed all presidents issued some generic Christmas cards. He was wrong.

Reporter Alan Cooperman told him that every president from FDR to Bush’s father had issued at least one card while in office that said “Merry Christmas.” That changed things. The newspaper quoted Donohue saying, “This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture.”

Rep. Massie had plenty of other opportunities throughout the year to sport his guns. Christmas should not have been one of them.

After Bill Donohue criticized Rep. Thomas Massie for his Twitter Christmas card showing his family holding long guns, on December 7, in a show of support, Rep. Lauren Boebert mimicked Massie by posting a Twitter photo of her standing in front of a Christmas tree with her four young sons, all of whom are holding long guns.

Boebert’s card was not doing Republicans any favor by supporting Massie in this offensive display. Christmas is about Jesus, not gun-toting family members.

That this fact needed to be explained suggests that Massie and Boebert were either clueless or just plain insulting. Either way, they are a disgrace.

Given the prominence of several abortion cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the subject is weighing heavily on the minds of those on both sides of this issue.

If there is one thing that everyone should insist on it is honesty. Regrettably, the pro-abortion side is jam packed with those who have a hard time telling the truth. Here are three examples, all from the first half of December.

On December 13th, Whoopi Goldberg said on “The View” that “I, too, am pro-life. No one I know [who] has had an abortion went willingly or happily. They went because they had to go, because they didn’t have a choice.”

They didn’t have a choice? What does this say about the “pro-choice” movement? Is it based on a lie? Moreover, it is disingenuous for Whoopi to say she is “pro-life”: it is reported that she had six or seven abortions by the age of 25.

Barbara R. Casper is a retired professor of medicine at the University of Louisville, and the author of a recent op-ed in the Courier Journal on this subject. Taking the pro-abortion side, she said, “I am not pro-abortion. In fact, I dare say no one is actually pro-abortion.”

She is wrong. On September 30, 2021, Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi testified in front of the House Oversight Committee on abortion. She told the panel that “for thousands of people I’ve cared for, abortion is a blessing, abortion is an act of love, abortion is freedom.”

On December 2, 2021, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended Roe v. Wade, which effectively sanctions abortion-on-demand. She expressed grave concern over the prospect that the Supreme Court might overturn this decision. “It’s really scary—and I say that as a practicing Catholic.”

The Catholic Church regards abortion to be “intrinsically evil.” By contrast, Pelosi is not only an enthusiast of partial-birth abortion, she wants to force the taxpayers to pay for them. Practicing Catholics don’t endorse the killing of babies who are 80 percent born, and they do not want the public to fund these abominable procedures.

One of the great things about being pro-life is that our side doesn’t have to lie.

On December 1st, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the most important abortion case ever brought since Roe v. Wade; indeed, it could overturn Roe. The case involves a Mississippi law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. A decision is not expected until June 2022. One thing is for sure: there will be plenty of pro-life and pro-abortion protesters outside the Supreme Court.

The way protesters on opposing sides typically conduct themselves is dramatic. In early October, at the beginning of the Supreme Court’s new term, pro-life and pro-abortion activists protested outside the high court.

Pro-life protesters were shown praying, saying the rosary, holding huge sheets of paper with the names of Americans who signed a petition to end abortion, and carrying a wooden Cross with the inscription, “Jesus Saves.”

In keeping with this respectful approach, the pro-life side convened a prayerful event on November 28th in Jackson, Mississippi. The “Pray Together for Life” rally was orchestrated by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and was attended by other prominent pro-life leaders.

By contrast, in early October pro-abortion protesters were shown carrying anti-Catholic signs, “Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries,” and placards denouncing pro-life activists, “You Are Pro-Life Until the Baby Is Poor, Black, Transgender, Gay, Mexican, Disabled, Sick.”

Other pro-abortion signs included, “Consent to Sex Is Not Consent to Pregnancy,” “My Body Is Not A Political Playground,” “You Will Not Control Us,” and “When Will My Body Be My Own?” Those who were arrested included a woman who held her hands above her head with a hanger placed around her wrists.

The different styles of protests are reflective of the respective goals of the protesters. Pro-life demonstrators invoke God. Pro-abortion demonstrators invoke hate.

The pro-abortion camp also distorts the truth. Pro-life Americans, who tend to be religious, are far more generous in giving to the poor than their secular pro-abortion counterparts. Thus, the bit about them not caring about all babies is ludicrous. But it is at least refreshing for the pro-abortion side to acknowledge that a pregnant woman is carrying a baby. If they weren’t so clueless, they would understand that this seriously undercuts their position.

Similarly, pregnant women are carrying the body of another human being, thus negating the foolish contention that abortion affects only the body of the expectant mother. Moreover, it is irresponsible for men and women who consent to having sex to deny that they are at least potentially consenting to pregnancy. Indeed, such irresponsibility accounts for a large part of the problem.

Following the allegations of physically and sexually assaulting several women, rock star Marilyn Manson had his home busted into on Nov. 29 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The alleged crimes took place between 2009 and 2011 in West Hollywood.

No reports have surfaced as to whether Manson’s home today resembles the one he apparently had when he was allegedly brutalizing these women. At that time some who knew him called his home a “meat locker” or a “black refrigerator,” a reference to the very dark and cold living quarters. It is also said he kept a separate room for women who misbehaved: the “chamber” was specifically designed acoustically to psychologically torture them.

Among Manson’s accusers is his former fiancée, “Westworld” actress Evan Rachel Wood. His former assistant also accused him of sexual assault, battery and harassment.

The most graphic depiction of his alleged assaults was made by “Game of Thrones” star Esmé Bianco. According to her, Manson forced her to suffer food and sleep deprivation, whipped her, made her submit to electric shocks and raped her during the night.

To those who have monitored Manson’s behavior over the years, none of this comes as a shocker.

In 1997, Bill Donohue wrote the following about him. “Manson is best known for his music that glorifies evil. A member of the Church of Satan, he has publicly identified himself with Lucifer. While performing, Manson often rips up Bibles, appeals to the crowd to become an ‘unholy missionary for AntiChrist Superstar’ and beckons his fans to worship the Manson ‘family.’ He sells T-shirts that read ‘Kill Your Parents’ and sings songs that celebrate violence, most of which are replete with obscenities.”

In 2000, Donohue called attention to Manson’s new album, Holy Wood. The lyrics of one of the songs, “Disposable Teens,” included, “I’m a teen distortion, survived abortion, a rebel from the waist down.” Other songs were called “Godeatgod,” “Cruci-fixion in Space,” “President Dead,” I’m in the Shadow of the Valley of Death,” “The Death Song,” “The Lamb of God,” “The Fall of Adam,” “King Kill 33̊” and “Count to 6 and Die.”

On the cover of the album was a depiction of an aborted baby nailed to a cross.

Donohue responded by saying, “It is Christianity that he hates and it is Catholicism that he hates most of all. Why else would he appear dressed as a bishop with a cross behind him in his video for ‘Disposable Teens’? And why else would he wear a pope’s miter while performing live? No, this guy is at war with Christ and the Vicar of Christ on earth.”

Looks like Manson’s Satanism has come home to roost.

We would have provided an email address for his agent, but CAA, one of the top agencies in the country, has dumped him, and so has his record company, Loma Vista Recordings.

Bill Donohue issued the following open letter on December 13 to Lorne Michaels, executive producer of Saturday Night Live

December 13, 2021

Mr. Lorne Michaels
Saturday Night Live
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

Dear Mr. Michaels:

On March 24, 1997, I wrote to you at the same address about an anti-Catholic skit on SNL; it was the third attack in the previous three months. The March 15th edition was particularly vile—it included a mockery of the Eucharist. Now, 25 years later, I am writing to you again, this time about a vulgar assault on the Holy Family that aired on December 11.

Last Saturday’s show, which offered a “Hip Hop” rendition of the Nativity Scene, showed an adult man wearing a diaper. That man was Jesus. He was shown “twerking,” shaking his butt to music. Joseph, his stepfather, was called “Baby Daddy,” and was instructed on how to do a “pimp walk.” The most obscene portrayal was reserved for Our Blessed Mother: She was depicted as a pole-dancing stripper. Worse, she was ordered to “go grind on the wall.”

Some might say that because you are not Catholic that you may be unaware of just how offensive this skit is. They would be wrong. You know exactly how offensive it is. I say this because you are the long-time creator and producer of SNL, and I have been commenting on your show for decades.

In addition to the three SNL shows I cited in 1997, in April of that year there was a skit that mentioned “a picture of a rat sucking the breast of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” [You guys really do have it out for her.] In 2002 your writers mocked New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade for claiming, falsely, that gays were banned from marching. In 2007, all priests were portrayed as sexual predators. In 2013, Jesus and the apostles were smeared. In 2019, there were five shows wherein all priests were attacked for being sexual abusers. And in October 2021, Catholics were singled out for condemnation because some have objected to being vaccinated.

You owe Catholics an apology. SNL is not a stranger to apologizing.

In 1992, you personally apologized for a skit that offended Chelsea Clinton. That same year, Joe Pesci slammed Sinead O’Connor for her anti-pope stunt. In 2007, SNL apologized for ridiculing children with Down syndrome. Justin Bieber apologized in 2013 for smoking marijuana on the show. In 2014, Kate McKinnon apologized for offending cats.

In 2017, Larry David gave a half-apology for joking about concentration camps. That same year Kristen Stewart apologized for accidentally cursing on the show. In 2018, Pete Davidson apologized to former Navy SEAL and newly elected congressman Dan Crenshaw for mocking the patch over one of his eyes (the result of an explosion while serving in Afghanistan). In 2019, an SNL spokesman apologized on your behalf for hiring (and then firing) Shane Gillis for insulting Chinese Americans.

SNL is at its best when it pokes gentle fun at various public figures and demographic groups. It is at its worst when it trashes the most central characters, tenets, and clergy of a religious community.

While all Christians treasure the Holy Family, especially at this time of the year, assaults on Our Blessed Mother carry even greater significance with Catholics. The decent thing to do is to apologize. After all, if cats merit an apology, why shouldn’t Catholics?

Sincerely,

William A. Donohue
President

On December 14, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to ban imports from the Xinjiang region in China that utilizes slave labor. However, on December 15, the bill was blocked in the Senate by Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden; given Senate rules, his objection was sufficient to prevent the bill from moving forward. Then some Democrats pushed back. Wyden folded on December 16, and the Senate unanimously passed the legislation.

For many years, the Uyghurs [pronounced Weegers], a Muslim minority, have been treated like slaves by the Communist Chinese government. That is why an anti-slave bill was needed.

Politico gave an accurate summary of the bill. “The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act effectively bans all imports from China’s Xinjiang region, where the U.S. government has said that the Chinese Communist Party is perpetuating a genocide against the religious minority, including slave labor, forced sterilizations and concentration camps.”

The two most important U.S. organizations that are responsible for supporting slave labor in China are the National Football League and Nike. Nike basically owns Sen. Wyden—it has greased him with contributions totaling into more than $60,000—but without the enabling role played by the NFL, the genocide and slave labor would not be flourishing.

The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, isn’t shy about his enthusiasm for Communist China. Two years ago he said, “China is a priority market for the NFL. We believe that our game has a great deal of potential to expand to grow and bring new fans into our game. We have had double-digit growth this past year in China in our fan base and people engaging with our game. So we are excited by it.”

John Donahoe, Nike’s CEO, is just as exuberant about working with the slavemasters in China. “Nike is a brand that is of China and for China.” (Our italics.) In 2020, a study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute named Nike as one of the companies that uses slave labor to make its products.

The NFL and Nike are joined at the hip.

In 2018, the NFL issued the following press release: “The National Football League and Nike announced a long-term extension to their on-field rights partnership. Central to the extension, Nike will continue to provide all 32 NFL Clubs with uniforms and sideline apparel bearing the Nike brand for use during all games.”

The degree of oppression in China, especially among religious minorities, isn’t in dispute. On July 1, 2021, the U.S. State Department released a damning assessment of conditions there.

“Over the last four years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has carried out a mass detention and political indoctrination campaign against Uyghurs….Authorities use threats of physical violence, forcible drug intake, physical and sexual abuse, and torture to force detainees to work in adjacent or off-site factories or worksites producing garments, footwear…material for solar power equipment” and many other products. Garments and footwear are both Nike products.

It is not just a Muslim ethnic minority that is being oppressed.

Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, offered an assessment of religious liberty in China.

“China’s Christians, at 100 million strong and constituting that country’s largest religious minority, are facing a new government policy of severe religious repression and persecution.” Minors are barred from attending houses of worship, churches are being closed, desecrations are increasing, Bibles are limited in supply, and adults are subject to state surveillance. Those who disobey are imprisoned.

To show how politically corrupt the NFL is, and how desperate it is to please its Communist friends in China, consider that on December 16 it published a map on social media that depicted the sovereign nation of Taiwan as part of China. Taiwan is a free country; China is a slave state. The league is in bed with the Communists; meanwhile it is selling out our democratic allies in Taiwan.

President Biden signd the bill, but no one should trust him. His special climate envoy, John Kerry, who is worth $250 million, has come under fire for owning stakes in an investment group that funds companies linked to the slave labor camps in China. Moreover, in the aforementioned State Department study, “material for solar power equipment” was cited as a good that is produced by slave labor.

Last month, Kerry was asked by a reporter why he doesn’t speak to the issue of human rights in China. He said “that’s not my lane here.” No wonder Politico said that the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act “encountered obstacles from the White House and the private sector.” Kerry was the White House obstructionist, and the NFL and Nike played the same role in the private sector.

What makes this all the more disgusting is the “social justice” policies promoted by the NFL and Nike. They are quick to side with the likes of Black Lives Matter, condemning America for being a racist country, yet they profit off of slave labor and genocide in China.

Why do organizations that have a very good family-friendly reputation find it necessary to offend Christians, especially during the Christmas season? As Bill Donohue recently detailed, the Salvation Army did so by adopting the racist ideas imbued in critical race theory. Now Costco has offended Christians by relegating Christmas to a second-class status.

In the December edition of Costco Connection, a publication of Costco Wholesale, the lead article, “A Festive Season,” compares Christmas to Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in a way that is downright insulting.

Written by Tim Talevich, the editorial director of the magazine, he provides a 111-word account of Hanukkah, a 38-word statement about Christmas and a 43-word summary of Kwanzaa. This alone would not mean much, but when we read what he says about the three holidays, it takes on more significance.

What Talevich says about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa is accurate and nicely done. But when it comes to Christmas, Talevich resorts to editorializing, and in a way that is not endearing to Christians. He wants us to know that December 25 is “likely not his [Jesus’] birthday” and that the “early Christians didn’t even celebrate Christmas.” He closes by saying “it’s a popular secular and religious event around the world.”

There is a significant difference between these three holidays. Hanukkah is a minor holiday in the Jewish tradition, one that is not mandated by the Torah the way other Jewish holidays are (e.g., Yom Kippur). Christmas is a major holiday for Christians. Kwanzaa was made up out of whole cloth in 1966 by an ex-con who served four years in prison—five years after he founded Kwanzaa—for beating and torturing two women.

It may be that December 25 is not the actual birthday of Jesus. So what? Why be pedantic about it? That’s when it is celebrated. We declared our independence from England on July 2, 1776, yet we celebrate the Declaration on July 4. Moreover, if Talevich is quick to doubt the birth date of Jesus, why did he write with certainty about the Maccabees in the second century B.C.?

The first evidence of celebrating Christmas is around A.D. 200. What does this mean to the average Christian? Nothing. Lots of celebratory events in history evolved over time, for all sorts of reasons. So what is the point that Talevich wants to make?

Any cultural observer worth his salt knows the game that is being played here. In keeping with the cultural mantra about inclusion and diversity—which are clearly political constructs—he seeks to elevate any day in December that could possibly compete with Christmas. That is why he even finds time to mention the winter solstice on December 21, National Ugly Sweater Day on December 17, and Festivus on December 23.

Talevich is not alone in diluting the importance of Christmas. Secularists can’t cancel it, though many have tried, but they can create faux competition with it. Those who think this is an exaggeration should consider how African Americans would react if we turned February into Diversity Month, celebrating our multicultural heritage. What would this do to the significance of Black History Month?

Talevich ends it by saying, “Costco’s role in all this? We’re here with food, gifts and just about anything else you might need to fully celebrate December’s holidays.”

Talevich is being disingenuous. Without Christmas, Costco’s cash registers wouldn’t ring so loudly. The food, gifts and everything else they sell are overwhelmingly Christmas gifts, and everyone knows it.

Recognizing all legitimate holidays is a good thing, but treating a major religious holiday as if it were inauthentic is offensive. This wouldn’t matter if Costco had a lousy reputation. And it wouldn’t matter if Talevich were a low-level employee. But neither is true. Which is why it matters.

CODA

The way the Costco issue ended is worth noting.

As we frequently do, we listed the email address of the offender on our news release; in this case we printed Talevich’s address.

After our email subscribers let loose on Talevich, he called Bill Donohue. Talevich stressed that he never intended to offend anyone, taking the opportunity to emphasize his Catholic credentials. Then he got aggressive.

Talevich said Donohue should have called him after he read the article; he also claimed he ran a pro-Christian article in the previous issue and that Donohue failed to complement him; and he denied that the cash registers ring loudly in December because of Christians.

Donohue told him that we are under no moral or legal obligation to contact those who have publicly offended us. Also, we don’t give out trophies to those who don’t offend us. Finally, Donohue argued that it is not Jews or blacks who are making Costco’s registers ring loudly in December—it is Christians, and everyone knows it.

Talevich was tongue-tied. We have reason to believe that Costco has learned a lesson.

After Pope Francis and President Biden met recently, President Biden said that the pope called him a “good Catholic” and that he should “keep receiving communion.” The Vatican has not confirmed the veracity of Biden’s account.

Like everyone else, we at the Catholic League have no way of knowing whether Biden’s remarks are accurate. But from what we know about the Vatican’s handling of the meeting, and Biden’s long record of lying about many important matters, we are maintaining a healthy skepticism about the president’s rendition.

It is certainly in Biden’s interest to have everyone think that the pope encouraged him to keep receiving communion. This issue matters because it has troubled many American bishops; they met from November 15-18 to discuss it. Biden’s lust for abortion rights, for instance, is cause for grave concern.

One reason why we are skeptical of Biden’s account is that it seems to be at odds with the Vatican’s decision to deny media press coverage of the meeting. The White House was banking on a photo-op, knowing that the optics would serve the president’s interests. But they were stiffed the day before the meeting.

If it is reasonable to conclude that the Vatican did not want the appearance of being played by the White House—sending the message that this pro-abortion Catholic president is a model Catholic—then it appears contradictory to laud his Catholic credentials. More important, why would the pope inject himself into the controversy between U.S. bishops and the president, knowing that by doing so he would undercut the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)?

Then there is the issue of lying. That Biden is a pathological liar cannot be denied. Here are a few instances.

The first example looks like small potatoes, but when coupled with the other examples, it takes on significance.

In 1974, when Biden was a freshman senator from Delaware, he bragged how he hit a ball 358 feet at his second congressional baseball game on July 2nd. In fact, he went 0-for-2.

The year 1987 was not a good one for the presidential hopeful. David Greenberg, writing in Slate, a left-wing media outlet, recalled how Biden plagiarized a speech given by British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock.

“Biden lifted Kinnock’s precise turns of phrase and his sequences of ideas—a degree of plagiarism that would disqualify any student for failure, if not expulsion from school. But the even greater sin was to borrow biographical facts from Kinnock that, although true about Kinnock, didn’t apply to Biden. Unlike Neil Kinnock, Biden wasn’t the first person in his family history to attend college, as he asserted; nor were his ancestors coal miners, as he claimed when he used Kinnock’s words.”

This was just the beginning of Biden’s lies. It was later revealed that he plagiarized from speeches given by Robert F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. The next day he admitted to telling more lies. He confessed to receiving an “F” in a law school course because he plagiarized five pages from a published article.

According to the Washington Post, Biden also told several lies about his academic credentials. He said that he graduated with “three degrees” from the University of Delaware. Wrong. He graduated with one degree. He said he won a coveted political science award at the university. He lied. He said he graduated at the top of his class at Syracuse Law School. He did not. He was 76th in a class of 85. He said he had a “full scholarship” at Syracuse. Another lie. He had a half scholarship.

Shaun King, an African American writer and civil rights activist, has tracked Biden’s civil rights record. Here is what he wrote last year about this issue.

“On two very important occasions, Joe Biden actually told the entire truth about his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Nearly everything else has been a lie. I’ve counted at least 31 different lies he has told about being an activist, organizer, sit-in demonstrator, boycott leader, voter registration volunteer, Black church trainee and more in the Civil Rights Movement, but every time I dig, I actually find more interviews, more lies, more fabrications, more tales he told to voters, reporters, historians, and more (his emphasis).”

When an anti-Semite attacked the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, leaving 12 dead, Biden claimed he later visited the synagogue, saying he spoke to the people there. He lied. He was never there, as officials at the synagogue recounted.

In his first 100 days in office, the Washington Post listed 78 false or misleading statements he made.

Recently, several high ranking military officials said that Biden’s rendition of the advice they had given him on withdrawing from Afghanistan was patently untrue.

It is for these reasons that we are skeptical of Biden’s account of what the pope said to him at their meeting.