US President Joe Biden angered many Irish people with a statement that was understood as linking the Irish with stupidity.
Biden was speaking, during a speech on the sidelines of the annual lunch for the Friends of Ireland at the Capitol, on the occasion of St Patrick's Day, which fell on Thursday. Biden began his speech with: "Well, I want you to know, I may be Irish, but I'm not a fool." Biden is of Irish descent.
Biden was talking about his personal life, from his relationship with his father to his marriage to first lady Jill Biden, and said: "Dad, before I begin, bless me (...) I want you to know that I may be Irish, but I am not stupid."
The British newspaper, "The Telegraph", considered that some interpreted this sentence as a joke, but others saw it as offensive to the Irish people. The US president's speech drew criticism from inside and outside the United States, especially from Ireland. Trina Fargo, an adviser to former President Barack Obama on Irish relations, said: "Joe Biden clearly has feelings of nostalgia for his Irish ancestry, so I doubt he intended to insult the Irish people, but that doesn't excuse him," according to the Telegraph..
For its part, the British "GB" channel said that Biden "succeeded in insulting the Irish people on St. Patrick's Day." She said that the 79-year-old Biden made a number of embarrassing mistakes in his recent speeches, and it was no different at the Friends of Ireland party. And the British channel reported the comments of a number of social media pioneers, one of whom wrote: "Biden only hinted that all Irish are stupid." Another said: "According to Joe Biden today, the Irish are stupid (...), thanks for insulting us today."
Hill
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