Biden campaign plays down South Africa 'arrest' in bid to see Mandela
Joe Biden was not arrested in South Africa while trying to visit Nelson Mandela, his campaign says.
The
US presidential contender had repeatedly said he was arrested during a
trip there in the 1970s, when South Africa was under apartheid.But a deputy campaign managers told reporters Mr Biden had been referring to an episode where he was "separated" from black colleagues at an airport.
Mr Biden is counting on black support to win South Carolina on Saturday.
The former vice-president first made the arrest assertion at an event in South Carolina earlier this month, reminiscing about his personal history with Mandela, South Africa's first black president who died in 2013.
Mr Biden - at the time a senator for Delaware - said he had been visiting the country with a delegation of American officials, and had planned to visit Mandela in prison.
But during the trip, Mr Biden said he had "had the great honour of being arrested with our UN ambassador on the streets of Soweto" while trying to reach the civil rights leader on Robben Island. The town of Soweto is more than 760 miles (1,223km) from Robben Island.
At a black history awards brunch in Las Vegas last week, he also said Mandela had thanked him for his efforts.
"He threw his arms around me and said, 'I want to say thank you,'" Mr Biden told onlookers. "I said, 'What are you thanking me for, Mr President?' He said: 'You tried to see me. You got arrested trying to see me.'"
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