Biden's Repeated False Joey, baby Story: A Fact Check on a Deceased Amtrak Conductor

President Joe Biden frequently shares a captivating personal anecdote during his speeches regarding his experience with Amtrak, the rail service he relied on for travel between Washington and his home state of Delaware during his time as a US senator. Despite its recurring presence in his speeches, it has come to light that the story is factually inaccurate, a detail that has been highlighted by CNN and various other sources for over two years.

Content During a speech to a group of Amtrak workers on Monday, Biden shared an anecdote about an article published during his time as vice president that highlighted his extensive travel, specifically mentioning that he had flown 1.2 million miles on Air Force planes as part of his role. He also highlighted his administration's significant investment of $16.4 billion in passenger rail projects along the busy Northeast Corridor from Washington to Boston.

The Stamford Transportation Center in Stamford, Connecticut is undergoing major upgrades as a result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress in 2021. Connecticut has been allocated $5.38 billion from the total funding for infrastructure projects over a span of 5 years. The focus of the new spending is on improving mass transit systems and highways. Serving as the largest and busiest train station in the Metro-North railroad system, after Grand Central in New York City, the Stamford facility is a major stop in Amtrak's northeast corridor. The Infrastructure Law's funding is considered the largest national investment in U.S. infrastructure since the construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

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Biden announces $16 billion for Amtrak rail improvements in Northeast Corridor

He informed the group of workers that following the article's release, he boarded an Amtrak train one Friday to visit his mother, who was in critical condition at the time. It was during this journey that an Amtrak worker named Angelo approached him. Despite the Secret Service personnel present, Angelo boldly grabbed his cheek, causing him to fear for Angelo's safety. In an affectionate manner, Angelo exclaimed, "Joey, baby," and dismissively remarked, "big deal" regarding the significant milestone of air travel.

Biden stated that Angelo, previously identified as conductor Angelo Negri, disclosed that "the guys" had conducted their own calculations during a retirement dinner. They determined that he had accumulated more miles on Amtrak trains than on government planes. Biden recalled Negri expressing his disinterest in hearing any further discussion about Air Force matters, which prompted laughter from the workers.

Bidens story is debunked for two reasons. Firstly, it is impossible for him to have had the mentioned exchange with Negri, as Biden didn't reach the million-miles-flown milestone until September 2015, while Negri had already passed away in May 2014. Secondly, Biden's mother had also passed away more than five years before he achieved the million-miles-flown mark, contradicting the claim that she was dying at that time. It is uncertain when exactly Biden reached the 1.2-million-miles mark as vice president, but this event was even further removed from the deaths of his mother and Negri.

Olga Betz, Negri's stepdaughter, confirmed to CNN in 2021 that Negri and Biden were close friends. She described Biden as "thoughtful and personable with the conductors, knowing them all by name," and expressed how much Negri respected and admired him. Supporting her statement, Betz shared a photo of Biden hosting a retirement party for Negri in his Senate office back in 1993.

Despite the genuine friendship between them, Biden has been consistently recounting an untrue story about Negri for over two years. In our previous report in 2021, we speculated that the president might have misremembered a real conversation he had with Negri, or possibly confused him with another Amtrak employee from his past encounters in 2015 or 2016. Despite several fact checks, the president has had ample opportunities to rectify his mistake.

The White House did not provide an immediate response on Monday to a comment request. Additionally, there was no response to a comment request made in August following Biden's speech in Milwaukee where he shared a version of the Negri story. In 2021, when asked about reports questioning the accuracy of the story, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated, "I have not come across that. However, the president's extensive relationship with Amtrak and his admiration for its diligent employees are widely recognized."