Fact Check: Joe Biden Falsely Claims Kellyanne Conway Backs Riots (Again)

CLAIM: Joe Biden claimed that Kellyane Conway supported riots, saying they were good for President Donald Trump, politically.

VERDICT: FALSE. Biden has repeatedly lied about what Conway said.

Biden used this false claim in the first presidential debate on Tuesday night. He has used it before.

As Breitbart News has noted in previous fact checks:

Biden claimed in a speech on violence Monday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that Trump saw political violence as a political boon. He “quoted” a Trump adviser who allegedly said, “the more chaos, violence, the better it is for Trump’s re-election.”

Biden and his campaign have been making similar false claims for days, but Biden’s misquote in Pittsburgh was by far the most egregious distortion of what the adviser — Kellyanne Conway — said last week.

As Breitbart noted in a [previous] fact check:

Conway appeared on Fox and Friends and was asked to respond to the claim by former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg that the riots were happening “on Donald Trump’s watch.”

Conway replied that the riots were happening in cities and states run by Democrats, most of whom had refused help from Trump. She then quoted a “restaurateur” in Madison, Wisconsin, who evidently opposed Trump and who asked rioters whether they were trying to get Trump re-elected.

Windows of businesses and residential buildings being smashed on University Avenue — which were not preemptively boarded up. This Papa John’s employee asks protesters, “Do you want Trump to be elected?” pic.twitter.com/IbSubGfGs6

— Dylan Brogan (@telldylan) August 26, 2020

Conway then added: “He knows, full stop, and I guess Mayor Pete knows, full stop, that the more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who is best on public safety and law and order.”

That is not a “hope” for violence. It is a simple observation that Democrats’ inability to stop the violence in the cities and states that they govern makes the case stronger for Trump’s re-election. Others have made similar observations.

Conway herself replied to Biden on Twitter:

Thanks for debate shout-out, creepy/sleepy/weepy JOE, but you lied. And don't sniff my hair, either. https://t.co/MaNckWRB2n

— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) September 30, 2020

Until the Kenosha riots — which Biden only belatedly condemned — the Democratic nominee had referred to rioters in Portland and elsewhere as “peaceful protesters.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.