The University of Utah agreed to pay Joe Biden $100K to speak on campus. This is why he didn’t take it.
By The Salt Lake Tribune
| Jan. 1, 2019, 2:19 p.m.
| Updated: Jan. 3, 2019, 4:20 p.m.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A packed house fills Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus to hear Vice President Joe Biden speak on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A video plays a short history of Vice President Joe Biden before he takes to the stage to speak at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A video plays a short history of Vice President Joe Biden before he takes to the stage to speak at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden remarks "I am most proud of not one skinny hint of scandal in eight years," as he gestures while speaking at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Second year student Isabelle Schlegel joins a packed house at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus to hear Vice President Joe Biden speak on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden praises Huntsman Cancer Institute Chief Executive Officer. Mary Beckerle at Kingsbury Hall after he was introduced by her on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project speaking engagement.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden joins Prof. Mark Matheson onstage as he speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Joanna Neal, originally from Delaware much like Vice President Joe Biden, brings her book for signing as she lines up with others outside Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. The former vice president was speaking as part of MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden joins Prof. Mark Matheson onstage as he speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden joins Prof. Mark Matheson onstage as he speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden joins Prof. Mark Matheson onstage as he speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People line up outside Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, to hear Vice President Joe Biden speaks.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) University of Utah President Ruth Watkins welcomes those gathered for Vice President Joe Biden as he gets ready to speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden joins Prof. Mark Matheson onstage as he speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden praises Huntsman Cancer Institute Chief Executive Officer. Mary Beckerle at Kingsbury Hall after he was introduced by her on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project speaking engagement.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden joins Prof. Mark Matheson onstage as he speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Vice President Joe Biden joins Prof. Mark Matheson onstage as he speaks at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, as part of the MUSE (My U Signature Experience) Project, a university presidential initiative meant to enrich undergraduate education across the U.
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The University of Utah agreed to pay former Vice President Joe Biden $100,000 to speak on campus last month, but when Biden heard the money would come from state coffers he declined the check.
That’s according to The New York Times, which used a public records request to get a copy of the U.’s contract with Biden for a story that explores how the former vice president is preparing for a potential 2020 presidential run.
The contract, negotiated through Creative Artists Agency, also required the university to fly him and his aides to Salt Lake City on a private plane at a cost of about $10,000, buy 1,000 copies of Biden’s most recent book to give to the audience and agree not to use the word “former” before “vice president” in social media.
Biden, 76, is expected to announce his political plans in the coming weeks. The Times reports that Biden has been careful about how he raises money to avoid criticism that Hillary Clinton received during the 2016 campaign. His advisers decided it wouldn’t be appropriate to take $100,000 in taxpayer money to speak to U. students.
To read the full New York Times story, click here.
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Mark Matheson, with the U.'s MUSE program, said the university offered to buy 1,000 books, and that offer was added to the contract. The books were not given to those in the audience during or after the speech, instead, people could get one for free by stopping by the MUSE office.
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