During a May 25 commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, President Joe Biden claimed he was “appointed” to the United States Naval Academy.

Verdict: False

Biden graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, the same year he claimed he was purportedly appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy. A spokesperson for the U.S. Naval Academy said they didn’t have record of Biden receiving an appointment.

Fact Check:

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is planning to virtually nominate Biden ahead of the party’s convention following a failed attempt by members of the Ohio Legislature to formally get him on the ballot for the November election, according to The Hill.

During the May 25 commencement address, Biden claimed he was “appointed” to the United States Naval Academy.

“Parenthetically, I was appointed by my — the fellow I ran against [Republican Delaware Sen. J. Caleb Boggs] when I was 29 years old to the Naval Academy. I was one of 10. I wanted to play football. And my — the day I was supposed to go down for the interview, a classmate of mine who was also one of the 10 appointed to be chosen from — a kid named Steve Dunning — came to pick me up. And I had found out two days earlier they had a quarterback named Roger Staubach and a halfback named Joe Bellino. I said, ‘Hell, I’m not going there.’ I went to [the University of] Delaware,” he said.

The claim is false, however. A spokesperson for the U.S. Naval Academy told Check Your Fact that the institution did “not have any record of President Biden receiving an appointment to the Naval Academy.”

“For clarification, a Congressional Representative cannot appoint a candidate to the Academy, however each member of Congress can offer ‘nominations’ to each of the service academies,” the spokesperson said and directed Check Your Fact to the Delaware Historical Society.

Biden told the same story when he addressed graduates of the United States Naval Academy in May 2022, according to the New York Post. The outlet reported that Biden said he was purportedly “appointed” to the Academy by Boggs in 1965, the same year he graduated from the University of Delaware. A 2008 news release from the University of Delaware announcing Biden as then-Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s running mate indicates Biden graduated from the university in 1965. The same release also states Biden was “presented an honorary doctor of letters degree” in 2004.

Fox News reported Biden repeated the false claim during both his 2022 address to the United States Naval Academy and his 2024 address to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Biden claimed he declined to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in 1965 during the 2022 address but did not offer a specific date during his 2024 speech.

Furthermore, Fox News reported Biden graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965 after graduating from Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware in 1961. Biden played football at Archmere Academy and then again briefly at the University of Delaware, according to the outlet.

In its same 2008 news release, the University of Delaware described Biden as “a vocal fan of the Fightin’ Blue Hens football team, for which he played briefly as what he calls a ‘half-baked halfback.'” (RELATED: Did Joe Biden Authorize The FBI To Use’ Deadly Force’ During The Mar-A-Lago Raid?)

Biden’s claim about Staubach and Bellino is also false. In May 2024, the New York Post reported Staubach graduated in 1964, while “Bellino played his last game in January 1961.” Staubach’s biography on the Naval Academy’s website confirms that he graduated from the institution in 1965. Similarly, a March 2019 news release from Navy Sports announcing Bellino’s passing states that he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1961.

Check Your Fact has contacted the White House and the Delaware Historical Society for comment regarding Biden’s claim and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.