Footage from nearly four decades ago has resurfaced on social media, showing former late-night host Johny Carson calling out then-Senator Joe Biden for alleged plagiarism. Carson highlighted controversial moments in Biden’s early political career when he seemingly stole parts of other prominent politicians’ speeches.
In the famous clip from almost 40 years ago, Carson said, “One of the Democratic candidates is Senator Joseph Biden. Have you seen the problem he’s been having? He went around and made a speech. And apparently, he quoted, I think it was a British politician, took his speech and kind of paraphrased it as his own. And then the press got on him.”
Carson further noted in his commentary that this was not an isolated incident either, claiming Biden had also plagiarized a speech from former United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. “And then he was charged also with taking part of Bobby Kennedy’s speeches,” Carson added. In a brilliant quip, the host offered a hilarious punch drawing on Franklin D. Roosevelt, stating, “And Biden says, not to worry, he reassured his staff. He said, ‘we have nothing to fear, but fear itself.’”
Users on social media reacted to the classic clip of the beloved late-night host. Popular comedian Tim Young shared the clip on X, writing, “Here’s Johnny Carson calling Joe Biden a fraud 36 years ago!” Others echoed this sentiment in the comments section. “He was a brilliant man!!!!!!” one woman commented about Carson.
“I still can’t believe he managed to run, let alone win the presidency, when there are tons of video of him lying and plagiarizing so many times during his political career. If that’s not proof that the system is completely rigged, I don’t know what is!” one person said, calling out Joe Biden’s instances of alleged plagiarism.
Others praised Carson’s willingness to take shots at both parties, unlike many late-night hosts of the modern era. “I really miss Johnny Carson, he would make fun of both parties and wasn’t mean nasty and full of hatred like the left-wing losers we’re stuck with today Kimmel Fallon Meyers and the worst of the worst Colbert the state court jester of the Democratic Party,” one person wrote.
“If you didn’t know about that you should look it up. The news did a big report on it, back when there was real journalism. He ended up dropping out of the race because of it. I found it before the election when I was researching the candidates (what a novel approach). Obviously I ended up not voting for Biden,” another person said, urging users to research the extent of Biden’s alleged plagiarism if they hadn’t already.
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Upon viewing the archived footage of footage from decades past, one person voiced nostalgia for the the classic American values that have seemingly disappeared. “I miss the classic morals and traditions. Men were men; who fight and forgave and made friends. Women were loyal and appreciated. Kids took responsibility. Yeah..” they wrote.
Watch the resurfaced clip of Carson calling out Biden many years ago below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.