'I'm coming home': Biden circles his Irish heritage
With his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, and son, Hunter Biden, in tow, the president spent the first day of his trip to Ireland with family lore.
President Biden climbed the stone stairs of an ancient castle in the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday and paused to look out over a sea of Iron Gray Ireland, where her mother's great-great-great-great-grandfather set sail for America in 1849.
On the ground, pipers blew out an original song, titled "A Biden Return," to celebrate 80 - his son's last visit to his homeland. Irish rain was falling on the president's baseball cap.
In other words, it was Peak Joe Biden.
“ That's wonderful! Mr Biden shouted from the castle towards a group of reporters. "I feel like I'm coming home."
Mr. Biden's ancestral tour began after a whirlwind trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland earlier today to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a peace accord that ended sectarian violence in the region. /p>
But neither Mr Biden nor his senior advisers were interested in discussing the ongoing political melee in Northern Ireland or any other global topic, including the war in Ukraine.
Instead, the president turned his gaze to the past, particularly his Irish heritage, which shaped his public identity and political outlook.
"The Irish are the only people in the world, in my opinion, who are truly nostalgic for the future," Biden said. "Think about it. It's because, more than anything in my experience, hope is what beats in everyone's heart, especially in the hearts of Irish people. Hope. Every action is about hope. ”
Mr Biden came here to learn more about his ties to the Finnegan and Blewitt families, his maternal clan of County Louth and County Mayo, including descendants settled near Scranton, Pa. (Ballina in County Louth, Biden pointed out on Wednesday, is a sister city to Scranton.)
These Finnegans and Blewitts raised a future American president on a steady diet of family traditions, Irish poetry and a rambling sense of pride: "'Remember, Joey, the best drop of blood in you is Irish,'" a- he told his grandfather when he was a child.
His family identity has been at the heart of his legacy, but it has also sometimes been his greatest political vulnerability.
Hunter Biden, the president's 53-year-old son, whose financial dealings are under investigation by the House Oversight Committee, visited Ireland with his father aboard Air Force One, even as prominent Republicans in the United States criticized the president for making the trip in the first place.
In an interview on Fox News Tuesday night , former President Donald J. Trump accused his successor of not paying attention to the world's problems.
< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"The world is exploding around us," claimed Mr. .Trump. "You could end up in a third world war and this guy is going to be in Ireland...
With his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, and son, Hunter Biden, in tow, the president spent the first day of his trip to Ireland with family lore.
President Biden climbed the stone stairs of an ancient castle in the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday and paused to look out over a sea of Iron Gray Ireland, where her mother's great-great-great-great-grandfather set sail for America in 1849.
On the ground, pipers blew out an original song, titled "A Biden Return," to celebrate 80 - his son's last visit to his homeland. Irish rain was falling on the president's baseball cap.
In other words, it was Peak Joe Biden.
“ That's wonderful! Mr Biden shouted from the castle towards a group of reporters. "I feel like I'm coming home."
Mr. Biden's ancestral tour began after a whirlwind trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland earlier today to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a peace accord that ended sectarian violence in the region. /p>
But neither Mr Biden nor his senior advisers were interested in discussing the ongoing political melee in Northern Ireland or any other global topic, including the war in Ukraine.
Instead, the president turned his gaze to the past, particularly his Irish heritage, which shaped his public identity and political outlook.
"The Irish are the only people in the world, in my opinion, who are truly nostalgic for the future," Biden said. "Think about it. It's because, more than anything in my experience, hope is what beats in everyone's heart, especially in the hearts of Irish people. Hope. Every action is about hope. ”
Mr Biden came here to learn more about his ties to the Finnegan and Blewitt families, his maternal clan of County Louth and County Mayo, including descendants settled near Scranton, Pa. (Ballina in County Louth, Biden pointed out on Wednesday, is a sister city to Scranton.)
These Finnegans and Blewitts raised a future American president on a steady diet of family traditions, Irish poetry and a rambling sense of pride: "'Remember, Joey, the best drop of blood in you is Irish,'" a- he told his grandfather when he was a child.
His family identity has been at the heart of his legacy, but it has also sometimes been his greatest political vulnerability.
Hunter Biden, the president's 53-year-old son, whose financial dealings are under investigation by the House Oversight Committee, visited Ireland with his father aboard Air Force One, even as prominent Republicans in the United States criticized the president for making the trip in the first place.
In an interview on Fox News Tuesday night , former President Donald J. Trump accused his successor of not paying attention to the world's problems.
< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"The world is exploding around us," claimed Mr. .Trump. "You could end up in a third world war and this guy is going to be in Ireland...What's Your Reaction?
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