‘I may be Irish but I’m not stupid’: Joe Biden’s controversial comments on Ireland
Joe Biden has frequently spoken of his Irish roots and his love for the country – but not all of his light-hearted comments have gone down well.
As the US president visits Belfast before he crosses the border, we take a look at some of his controversial jokes and reactions to some of his past comments about Ireland.
Live updates – White House denies Biden is ‘anti-British’
‘Anyone wearing orange, you’re not welcome in’
When Mr Biden was vice-president in 2015, he made a joke when the then-Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny visited his house in Washington on St Patrick’s Day.
“Anyone wearing orange, you’re not welcome in… only joking”, he said wearing a green tie as they smiled for a picture.
Orange is the colour associated with the Protestant majority in Northern Ireland, while green is used as a symbol by mostly Catholic Irish nationalists.
The joke, at the expense of the Orange Order, which counts Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MPs among its number, led to criticism from the DUP and backlash on social media.
Joe Biden celebrating St Patrick’s Day at the White House this year
William McCrea, the former DUP representative for South Antrim, said he appreciated that Mr Biden said it was a joke, but called his comments a “slur” and said they were “disgraceful and careless”.
The party called for him to apologise. An official from his office said he made it clear that it was a joke.
‘I may be Irish but I’m not stupid’
The president opened a St Patrick’s Day speech at the White House last year with a joke about his wife Jill, and his Irish heritage.
He said: “Father, before I begin – bless me, Father, for I’m about to sin… I – well, I just want you to know, I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid. I married Dominic Giacoppa’s daughter [Jill Biden’s grandfather] so, you know, I got a little Italian in me now.”
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Some in the audience did laugh, but the off-the-cuff remark referencing his own roots left some unimpressed including Twitter users who shared their incredulity that he would infer that people from Ireland are “stupid”.
The president has repeated this joke on more than one occasion.
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‘I’m the only Irish who’s never had a drink’
He joked his relatives ‘weren’t really in jail’
More recently, the US leader also joked about his experience meeting distant members of his Irish family.
The 80-year-old told the crowd: “When I went over to Ireland, It was a great experience. I’ve been to Ireland many times, but not to actually look up – to find my actual family members.
“And there are so many – and they actually weren’t in jail.”
Biden ‘really not Irish’ as he has ‘never had a drink’
The joke seemed to go down well with the crowd who laughed and a second joke followed. Reminiscing about his stay, he added: “There’s still a place called Finnegan’s pub… that’s related to my family.
“I’m the only Irishman you ever met, though, that’s never had a drink, so I’m okay. I’m really not Irish.”
The president does not drink alcohol.
He then spoke about his Irish roots from his mother’s side of the family – the Finnegans and the Blewitts.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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