Biden touts UPenn professorship to world leaders. There's just one problem.
As an honorary professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Biden reportedly made only nine visits to campus.
Biden was paid more than $900,000 over two years, though neither he or UPenn have explained why.
President Joe Biden made his first major foreign policy speech of his administration to G-7 leaders at the Munich Security Conference, where he seemingly characterized his professorship at UPenn as a full-time job.
Biden opened his speech by reintroducing himself, saying, “When I last spoke at Munich, I was a private citizen; I was a professor, not an elected official.”
It is true that he was a professor, although not in the conventional sense of the word, and not as a full-time job such as an elected office. Biden was named the Benjamin Franklin Presidential Professor of Practice after Obama’s second term came to a close.
[RELATED: GOP lawmakers demand UPenn Biden Center release foreign donation records]
He made only nine visits to UPenn from 2017 through 2019, according to the New York Post. But even for such a limited presence at the school, Biden was paid handsomely.
The Philadelphia Inquirer uncovered that Biden was paid more than $900,000 in 2018 and 2019, significantly higher than the average professor.
At the time of his appointment, Biden spokesperson Kate Bedingfield said that Biden would not be teaching classes at UPenn. UPenn president Amy Guttman celebrated the appointment, saying that “[Biden’s] unsurpassed understanding of diplomacy and far-ranging grasp of world issues make him an ideal fit to further Penn’s global engagement— including the work of Penn Global and Perry World House, signature initiatives to develop innovative interdisciplinary global strategies and programs that distinguish Penn as a global agenda setter in higher education.”
Biden’s appointment at UPenn coincides with a sharp increase of foreign funding to the school, and House Republicans have asked UPenn to clarify its ties to China and its communications with Biden.
UPenn did not respond to a request for comment on Biden’s role or on any services he provided to the school.
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