Joe Biden Declines $100K Speaking Fee at University of Utah

Joe Biden Declines $100K Speaking Fee at University of Utah

Good for Joe. It’s not often you hear about a politician turning down a huge speaking fee.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

The University of Utah agreed to pay Joe Biden $100K to speak on campus. This is why he didn’t take it.

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.

While in Utah, Biden didn’t bring up a presidential campaign, nor was he asked about it. Instead, he talked about his upbringing, his entrance into politics and the 2015 death of Beau, his son.

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