In October 2020, a claim started to circulate social media positing that Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden said that he grew up in Section 8 housing:
This claim is based on something Biden said during an ABC News town hall on Oct. 15, 2020. But while Biden did mention Section 8 housing during this event — a reference to a section of the U.S. Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 that offered assistance to low-income Americans — he never said that he lived in Section 8 housing.
What Biden did say was that he used to live in a building that "much later" became Section 8 housing.
Here's a transcript of Biden's comment from ABC News:
Look, this is the way every other, how do most, like my dad, he lost his job up in Scranton and it took him three years to be able — he moved down to Delaware to Claymont (inaudible), a little steel town. And sent us home to our grandpop to live with him.
We finally got back, we lived in apartments. Became Section 8 housing much later, it wasn't -- it was just normal apartments. But it took him five years to be able to buy a home.
Biden made this comment while he was responding to a question about why the Black community should support his bid to win the presidency. This portion of the town hall begins at the 1:24:50 mark of the following video. Biden's comment about Section 8 housing can be seen at 1:30:45.
Biden did not say that he used to live in Section 8 housing. He said that he lived in a building that "much later" became Section 8 housing.