Biden jokes ‘I may be Irish but I am not stupid’ at St Patrick’s Day lunch speech
Blundering Biden says ‘I may be Irish but I am not stupid’ before calling Putin a ‘murderous dictator and pure thug’ in St Patrick’s Day speech
President Biden spoke at the traditional St. Patrick’s Day luncheon in the Capitol on Thursday He started with a joke saying ‘I may be Irish but I am not stupid’, then turned to upping his attacks on PutinBiden called the Russian leader a ‘murderous dictator, a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine’ In the wide-ranging speech he also discussed China, democracy, his family and his Irish heritage He shared favorite sayings from his mother, his father, and his grandparents Biden is reported to only be about five-eighths Irish, but is known for playing up his Irish heritage Biden’s latest war of words are the most direct at the Russian leader in the 21 days since the invasion The Kremlin has also upped the ante on the West by warning the U.S. may need to be ‘put in its place’Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi read a poem by U2 frontman Bono comparing Ireland and Ukraine
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President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a ‘murderous dictator and pure thug’ in his St Patrick’s Day speech on Thursday that started with the quip: ‘I may be Irish but I am not stupid’.
Biden ramped up his attacks on the Russian leader, a day after finally calling him a war criminal, in remarks that started with him going through his Irish heritage at the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon.
‘Father before I began, bless me, father I’m about to sin,’ Biden cracked, making the sign of the cross as he addressed Rev. Thomas O’Connor while standing between Irish and American flags inside the wood paneled Rayburn Room in the Capitol.
‘Well, I just want you to know, I may be Irish but I’m not stupid. I married Dominic Giacoppo’s daughter,’ he quipped, referencing the Sicilian name of Jill Biden’s father, Donald Jacobs.
He then turned to upping his rhetoric on Putin and said he is a ‘murderous dictator, a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine’.
His latest war of words are the most direct at the Russian leader in the 21 days since the start of the invasion. The Kremlin has also upped the ante by warning the U.S. may need to be ‘put in its place’ for sharing ‘disgusting Russiaphobia’.
Putin’s forces have continued their brutal military operations across Ukraine by bombing and besieging the city of Mariupol over the last 24 hours. The State Department also confirmed an American citizen was shot dead by Russian forces in the northern city of Chernihiv on Thursday.
At the luncheon Biden also mentioned his phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and that the world is in a ‘genuine struggle between autocracies and democracies and whether or not democracies can be sustained.’
President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a ‘murderous dictator and pure thug’ in his St Patrick’s Day speech on Thursday that started with the quip: ‘I may be Irish but I am not stupid’
Biden ramped up his attacks on the Russian leader, a day after finally calling him a war criminal, in remarks that started with him going through his Irish heritage at the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon. ‘Father before I began, bless me, father I’m about to sin,’ Biden cracked, making the sign of the cross as he addressed Rev. Thomas O’Connor while standing between Irish and American flags inside the wood paneled Rayburn Room in the Capitol
Biden, who has always taken pride in his Irish roots, hailed the country’s efforts to help defend the war-torn country from Russian aggression.
‘Everybody talks about Germany having stepped up and changed,’ he said, in reference to that country’s abrupt about-turn on defence spending in the wake of the attack on Ukraine.
‘And they have,’ he said. ‘Well, so has Ireland.
Joe Biden Joseph R. Biden Sr. Biden said his father would always wear a coat and tie for appointments, despite not graduating from college
‘A neutral country. Ireland has stepped up and taken a hit for it.’
Biden is reported to only be about five-eighths Irish, but is known for playing up his Irish heritage – despite the fact he has a sizable number of English ancestors too.
All eight of his great-great-grandparents on his mother’s side were born in Ireland during the first half of the 19th century, according to Irish Central.
Patrick Blewitt, one of his great-great-grandfathers, is said to have emigrated to the U.S. in the 1890s and settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Biden grew up.
In a meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin earlier on Thursday, Biden said ‘Putin’s brutality and what he’s doing and his troops are doing in Ukraine is just inhumane’.
In between the attacks on Putin, Biden continued with Irish anecdotes.
At one point during the luncheon, Biden mentioned a past meeting with the Toiseach, accompanied by his father, who wore a brand new blazer with a crest that had a latin inscription on it.
‘I never took the time to look at it,’ Biden said, pointing to his Catholic school upbringing where he took Latin. Then he did an Irish accent as he completed the tale.
‘And the Toiseach – we’re having our picture taken, he said, ‘Oh mr Biden I agree.’ And what it said in Latin was: ‘Don’t let the bastards get you down.’ Well we can’t let them get us down,’ Biden said.
Father O’Connor also got in a few jokes during his blessing, mentioning the joy Irish celebrations bring and getting in references to Guinness and Jameson’s.
‘Like the gift of the gab present in the Irish and many politicians, present company is no exception,’ he said.
Biden, who is famous for being long winded, laughed.
He was introduced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who noted when President Reagan came to the luncheon that he said ‘America has been blessed by Irish children. And one of those Irish children is now the president of the United States.’
Biden’s remarks came after he had to scrub plans to hold the traditional meeting with Toiseach Micheál Martin in person at the White House.
After Martin tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday night, the meeting was switched to zoom.
He had a few serious lines while speaking about the partnership with Ireland, which he said had ‘stepped up’ from neutrality in confronting Russian aggression and becoming an actor on the world stage.
He cited unity in confronting Putin, who he called a ‘murderous dictator, a pure thug, who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine.’
‘And Putin is paying a big price for his aggression, and they are part of the reason the cost is going so high,’ Biden said.
Russian forces bombed a theatre where hundreds of civilians, including children, were sheltering in the encircled port city of Mariupol on Wednesday, the city council said
He spoke about common goals between the two countries.
‘My mother’s expression, gotten from her grandfather was, you know, ‘As long as you’re alive, you have an obligation to strive. And you’re not dead ’til you’ve seen the face of God.’ That’s what I think of when I think of Ireland. All the troubles they’ve been through, they have never, ever, ever quit,’ he said.
He gave an update on the Toiseach.
‘I was on the zoom as we say … He’s looking well. He feels well. He’s tested positive, but he feels well,’ Biden said. ‘He’s really sorry he can’t be here.’
Biden toggled between reflections on politics, praise for congressional leaders.
He called Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) ‘Irish, as we say where I come from, belt buckle to shoe sole.’
You know, I’m the proud son of Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, he said, telling how his family came to the country in 1844 and 1845.
He said on St. Patrick’s Day, ‘The Irish Americans think they’re more Irish than the Irish. That’s kind of how I was raised.’
‘It was imbued in me to be proud of my heritage,’ said Biden.
‘It was part of the air we breathed, especially up in Scranton,’ said Biden of Irish-American pride.
He quoted his ‘grandpop’ – Ambrose Finnegan.
‘He’d say Joey if you’re lucky enough to be Irish, your’e lucky enough,’ Biden said.
Then he spoke about his father, and said family was ‘everything.’
‘My dad’s expression was family is the beginning, the middle, and the end,’ Biden said.
He quoted Irish poet WB Yeats.
‘All changed, changed utterly – a terrible beauty has been born,’ he said.
A satellite image taken over the city of Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine, on Wednesday and released Thursday shows blasts and fires caused by Russian air strikes in civilian areas
