In a recent appearance on Jay Leno’s Garage YouTube show, former President Joe Biden once again shared a disputed anecdote about an encounter with an Amtrak conductor. Biden recounted how Angelo Negri, a conductor and friend, allegedly approached him about an article mentioning Biden’s Air Force Two mileage surpassing 1.2 million miles. Biden said Negri grabbed his cheek to emphasize that Biden had doubled those miles by train, leaving Biden’s Secret Service detail surprised.
The narrative that Biden shared, however, has discrepancies. Not only did Negri retire in 1993, before Biden became vice president, but he also passed away before Biden reached the mentioned Air Force Two milestone. Despite these inconsistencies, Biden has faced fact-checking from outlets like the Associated Press and CNN over this story multiple times. Newsweek has contacted Biden for comments and reached out to Leno via email.
Details of the Amtrak Story
Biden, 83, has told this story on numerous occasions, mentioning a trip from Washington, D.C., to his ailing mother in Delaware. Some versions specify that Biden was visiting his dying mother, who passed away in 2010. He described the situation to Leno by saying he was surrounded by Secret Service agents when Negri, or another conductor in his accounts, approached him to discuss an article about Biden’s Air Force Two mileage.
In his recounting to Leno, Biden stated Negri told him, “Do you realize how many miles you’ve ridden on Amtrak? We calculated it… You, as a senator for 36 years, for you, was a total of 298 miles a day. You averaged 22 trips a year. Thirty-six years times that. And that’s not counting VP. You’ve traveled 1,200,000 miles already. I don’t want to hear any more of this about Air Force Two.”
Scrutinizing the Facts
Reports suggest Biden may have logged over a million miles on Amtrak by late 2015, supported by CNN and photographer David Lienemann. Despite retirement, Negri maintained a friendship with Biden. Negri’s stepdaughter, Olga Betz, told CNN in 2021 that Negri “adored” Biden, though the timeline makes the specific conversation as relayed by Biden unlikely.
Another Amtrak conductor might have conversed with Biden after the Air Force Two mileage announcement. It’s plausible Biden confused events or conversations. However, his claim of visiting his dying mother doesn’t align with the timeline, as she passed years before the mentioned Air Force miles were completed.
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