While I’ve been paying attention to national and global politics for more than two decades, I’m struggling to remember a moment in time when the American president’s Irish ancestry was such a huge talking point here at home and abroad. Bill Clinton famously had Irish ancestry, as did Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. All of those men famously visited Ireland while they were president, and all of them were very well received. Millions of Americans love and embrace their Irish ancestry, and there’s a special relationship between Ireland and the US. Meaning, President Biden’s political and personal journey is well-trod in every sense.

President Biden flew to Northern Ireland last week, where he briefly met with British prime minister Rishi Sunak ahead of the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement anniversary. Then Biden flew to the Republic of Ireland, where his trip is (again) both personal and political. He made time for Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and President Michael Higgins. He made political speeches and did soft-diplomacy. But mostly the trip is just a celebration of Pres. Biden’s Irish ancestry, and he’s loved every minute of it – he’s stopped by churches, pubs, town halls, civic centers, markets, and Irish people seem to love him. He shook hands, hugged a lot of Irish peeps and kissed a lot of Irish babies. On Friday, he gave a big speech to a rapturous crowd in Ballina, where his people are originally from. He walked out to the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.”

He’s already back in DC, where he will stay for the next month or so. Meaning, he’s making a point of NOT going to King Charles’s coronation. He’s sending the First Lady, as the White House confirmed weeks ago. Hilariously, the one-two punch of Biden refusing the coronation invitation AND then enjoying himself in Ireland is too much for the British media to take. We should have known something was amiss when Buckingham Palace was openly (and bizarrely) briefing the media about how Biden isn’t coming to the coronation because he’s “too old” to travel that much. In recent days, the British media has been absolutely unhinged about Biden’s Ireland visit, with columnists and political journalists acting like Biden slapped QEII’s corgis simply by… celebrating his Irish ancestry. Even Camilla Tominey wrote a nasty piece about how Britain doesn’t “need” Biden. They are SEETHING. It’s utterly bizarre.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.