Joe Biden has a history of “offending” people who uphold a British tradition living in Northern Ireland, according to ex-DUP leader Arlene Foster.
It comes after Joe Biden made a major gaffe during his Ireland trip where he mistook the All Blacks rugby team with the Black and Tans.
GB News presenter Arlene Foster says the US President has a history of making derogatory remarks when it comes to his Irish roots and continually offends unionists.
Biden was welcomed with a rapturous applause as he made a speech to a packed Irish Parlaiemtn on Thursday.
Arlene Foster slams Joe Biden
GB News / PA
Foster criticised the trip, saying Biden has not been a pillar of diplomacy during his controversial trip to the island of Ireland.
She told GB News: “I think he has a disdain for the UK and he had very carefully scripted words when he was in Belfast which I think were greatly appreciated by those in attendance.
“But once he’s off script, he reverts to type and he spoke about his cousin who played for the Ireland rugby team, and he said he ‘beat up the Black and Tans’, as opposed to the All Blacks.
“The Black and Tans are a recruited force who were brought in during the time of the war for independence and they were hated by Irish republicans.
There have been fears that Joe Biden could enrage unionists with references to his Irish heritageReuters“They came mostly from Great Britain and they served in World War One. Even to this day Irish republicans have songs for the Black and Tans.
“Now why would the President be thinking about the Black and Tans when he’s discussing the All Blacks?
“I think it goes to his mindset in relation to what happened in Ireland.
“He is not always balanced in matters relating to Northern Ireland. I acknowledge he was diplomatic in Belfast when he spoke but that was because he gave a scripted speech.”
Speaking on how much of a “personal” matter Joe Biden’s comments are to her, Foster said Biden’s record on Northern Irish matters should be “acknowledged”.
She told Patrick Christys: “Joe Biden’s record has not been even-handed and I think that must be acknowledged.
“I think just to push it all away and say ‘that’s a nonsense’ is not recognising what he has said in the past, which have been offensive to people living with a British tradition here in Northern Ireland.”
Asked for specific examples of Biden’s past incredulities surrounding Northern Irish, Foster went on to list several.
She said: “Back in 1985, when we had a special relationship between President Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, he opposed attempts to make extradition easier, in other words bring IRA suspects back from America to Northern Ireland to face trial.
“He made comments such as ‘if you wear orange, you’re not welcome here’, when he was Vice President.
“Of course those of an orange tradition here in Northern Ireland found that offensive. He’s very proud of the fact that his mother refused to sleep in a bed that her late Majesty the Queen slept in.
“He continuously makes comments about Irish matters, for example when he was in the West Bank, he said he could understand how Palestinians felt as someone from a Catholic background in Ireland, implying that the UK was similar to Israel in connection with Palestine.
“He makes all of these comments and that’s what I was reflecting on.”
In a speech on Thursday, Biden made a historic address where he spoke of the strength of Irish_US ties while promising a future of unlimited shared possibilities.
He became the court US president to address the Irish Parliament after John F Kennedy in 1963, Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Bill Clinton in 1995.
