President Joe Biden evoked on Saint Patrick’s Day an Irish stereotype that drinking is prevalent in the Emerald Isle as he delivered remarks Friday at the U.S. Capitol during a themed luncheon with political leaders.
The president, while speaking at the annual Friends of Ireland gathering, recalled visiting Ireland, saying he had been to the country several times but that he went on one particular occasion to find his “actual family members.”
“There were so many, and they actually weren’t in jail,” Biden quipped.
The president said he spent nearly a week in Ireland before noting some of his relatives, the Finnegans, were from County Louth and “if you go to County Louth there’s still a place called Finnegans pub, which is, I bet that’s related to my family.”
Biden, who has said he does not drink, added jokingly, “I’m the only Irishman you’ve ever met though that’s never had a drink, so I’m okay. I’m really not Irish.”
The president’s remarks…
