CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Joe Biden said he wasn’t deliberately attempting to mislead voters when he told a false war story.

The former vice president, 76, was asked by reporters in Iowa on Monday whether details matter after he conflated his encounters with several different military service members.

“They matter in terms of whether or not you're trying to mislead people. And I wasn't trying to mislead anybody,” the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate said before greeting voters at the Hawkeye Area Labor Council Labor Day picnic. “The valor and honor of these warriors are as significant as any warriors we've ever had in the history United States of America. That was my point,” he added.

The trouble for Biden began 10 days ago in Hanover, New Hampshire, when the 36-year Delaware senator and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman said at a campaign event that during a 2008 trip to Afghanistan's Kunar province, an older Navy captain had begged him not to present him with the Silver Star. He said the captain had propelled himself down a cliff to retrieve the body of a fellow service member who had died.

But his tale appears to be largely based off a 2011 awards ceremony in Afghanistan's Wardak province where he pinned the Bronze Star on younger Army Staff Sgt. Chad Workman after Workman had tried to save a friend from a burning vehicle.

Since then Biden's campaign has tried to shame the press into avoiding the story. On Friday, the former vice president's campaign peddled a news report by CBS on voters dismissing the mistakes he makes on the trail.

"ICYMI — CBS News: 'So what?': South Carolina Democrats not bothered by Joe Biden's gaffes," read the subject line of a Biden campaign email sent to reporters Friday with the article attached.

On Monday, as Biden approached assembled reporters, he joked to onlookers that they should join the group.

“If anyone wants to watch me make some mistakes, come on over,” he said.