President Biden tried to pay homage to his cousin in Ireland but managed to mix up terms for a rugby team and the British police recruits who fought the Irish Republican Army in the 1920s.
Mr. Biden referred to his cousin Rob Kearney and his role on an Irish team that beat the All Blacks team of New Zealand in 2016 — a major upset.
“He was a hell of a rugby player, and he beat the hell out of the Black and Tans,” Mr. Biden said Wednesday at a pub in Dundalk, Ireland.
The term Black and Tans has pejorative connotations and refers to the uniforms the recruits wore during the fighting in Ireland a century ago.
The oral slip caused a stir as Mr. Biden tries to shore up U.S. relations with Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and his ancestral homeland in Ireland, which shares an island with Northern Ireland and has a fragile history with its neighbor.
The Times of London said, “Gaffe spoils Biden’s charm offensive,” while some Irish publications laughed it off.
“I think for everyone in Ireland who is a rugby fan, it was incredibly clear that the president was talking about the All Blacks and Ireland’s defeat of the New Zealand team in 2016,” Amanda Sloat, the National Security Council’s director for Europe, told reporters Thursday. “It was clear what the president was referring to. It was certainly clear to his cousin sitting next to him who had played in that match.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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