The American press has highlighted President Joe Biden’s emotional response to returning to the land of his ancestors during this week’s visit to Ireland.
“Biden may have been born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, have spent a half-century in Washington and own two houses in Delaware, but this week, Ireland sounded like his true native land,” writes Matt Viser in The Washington Post. Viser went on to note Biden’s quip questioning his ancestor’s decision to depart for America: “When you’re here, you wonder why anyone would ever want to leave. No I mean it.”
“It was a notable message for the president of the United States,” continued Viser, “Whose job description includes repeatedly extolling it as the greatest country in the world, as he wondered aloud at times why his ancestors ever left.
“Unlike most presidential trips overseas, there were few policy objectives for this visit. He met several Irish leaders whom he had also seen in Washington on St Patrick’s Day, and the official summaries of the meetings were nearly identical to the ones sent out last month. But the emotional resonance seemed greater for Biden because the meetings were unfolding on Irish soil.”
Everyone knew what Biden’s Irish visit was about apart from the sulking British press
Justine McCarthy: British media was right - Joe Biden’s Ireland belongs to Dark Ages
Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland contained some hard messages for us
US media take dim view of Biden’s ‘taxpayer-funded family reunion’ in Ireland
Viser also noted that, when speaking before the Oireachtas on Thursday evening, President Biden looked “far happier than during his addresses to Congress.”
Writing in The New York Times, Katie Rogers and Michael D Shear noted Biden’s caution when making a speech in Belfast on Wednesday. They also spoke to people close to the President in an attempt to explain why he has such a profound emotional connection to a country his ancestors left centuries ago.
“ ... Neither Mr. Biden nor his senior advisers were interested in discussing the ongoing political fray in Northern Ireland or any other global matters, including the war in Ukraine,” they say. “Instead, the president trained his gaze on the past – specifically, his Irish heritage, which has shaped his public identity and political outlook.
“[Biden’s] brother and sister are so proud of their Irish heritage that, when Mr. Biden was a candidate for vice-president, Valerie Biden Owens [the President’s sister] lobbied the Secret Service on his behalf to change its protocol for code names for the people it protects. Mr. Biden’s was supposed to start with “K,” but his sister persuaded officials to use one that nodded to his Irish heritage: Celtic.
“‘For President Biden, Ireland is not just a place where his ancestors lived – it is deeply ingrained in his identity,’ said Shailagh Murray, a former senior adviser to Mr. Biden. ‘His Irishness is interwoven alongside his faith, his fierce devotion to his family and his empathy for people who are struggling.’”
As The New York Times highlights, there has been criticism back in the US of Biden’s decision to travel to Ireland, notably from political opponents in the Republican Party. Chief among them is former President Donald Trump who, when speaking to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, said: “The world is exploding around us. You could end up in a third world war and this guy is going to be in Ireland.”
Writing for USA Today, Joey Garrison and Francesca Chambers point out that this trip is not the first time the president has travelled abroad only for events at home to risk overshadowing his visit. On Thursday, the US Department of Justice announced the arrest of Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman who is charged with leaking classified documents on the war in Ukraine.
“At a banquet shortly after the arrest, Biden said his Grandpa Finnegan had a saying: ‘If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough, “’ write Garrison and Chambers.
“The president is likely to see his visit to North Mayo Heritage and Genealogical Centre’s Family History Research Unit overshadowed by the leak case. He returns to the US on Friday evening for a weekend at his beach home.
“Biden’s trips abroad have a history of being disrupted by outside forces. While in Mexico earlier this year, the president was pressed on revelations that stray classified documents were found at his personal residence. On a trip to Indonesia for the Group of 20 Summit, his last day in Bali was overshadowed by a missile crisis.
“Earlier in the year, as Biden was preparing to leave for Europe, the Supreme Court overturned abortion rights.”
Despite issues at home, much of the coverage remains centred on Biden’s willingness to tap into his Irish identity. Viser of The Washington Post references the danger of watching a camogie match “which turned out to carry more risk than his speeches as a ball whizzed by his left shoulder and nearly struck him.” The president joined Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in watching the sport during their meeting at Farmleigh.
Returning to The New York Times, Rogers and Shear provide a stark takeaway from the four-day visit. “Perhaps no modern president has embraced his Irish American lineage as enthusiastically as Mr Biden.”
