Biden Busted Using 'Old School' Slur On-Stage
This is insulting to the Irish people.
President Joe Biden spoke of his Irish heritage in an offensive manner in a Friday veterans’ town hall event in Delaware, according to Fox News.
“I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid,” Biden said.
Biden: “I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid!” pic.twitter.com/IInpy0cY83
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) December 16, 2022
“I married Dominic Giacoppa’s daughter, so, you know, I got a little Italian in me now.”
Okay, then.
Biden loves this Bidenism (he’s said it in the past before) — just casual old school anti-Irish stereotyping, but he thinks it’s a fun part of his gift of the gab because he considers himself Irish (his great-great-great grandfather moved to America from Ireland in the 1800s.) https://t.co/VJrcjdYzax
— Jerry Christmas 🎅🏼🎄 (@JerryDunleavy) December 16, 2022
After the remark, Washington Examiner journalist Jerry Dunleavy indicated that Biden has used the same tasteless jab before.
There’s something to be said for self-deprecating humor, on the condition that it’s actually funny. Describing Irishness as analogous to stupidity comes across as crass and ignorant.
Could you imagine politicians of other ethnic groups using the same language? If a black or Native American president spoke about their background as if it implied stupidity, many people would be (rightfully) offended.
Biden’s “stupid Irish” gab might appear on its face to be a stereotype he invented on the fly, but in some ways, it’s reminiscent of the discrimination against Irish Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Many Irish arrivals to the United States faced bitter prejudice from some quarters of American society — a difficulty they encountered after fleeing a homeland blighted by dismal famine and poverty.
This discrimination didn’t prevent the Irish from succeeding in America, by the way. So deeply have the Irish integrated into society that more than 30 million people profess an Irish American identity, according to the Census Bureau.
An entire laundry list of American presidents (yes, including Biden) have Irish heritage — so many that it’s likely that only Americans of Anglo-Saxon descent defeat the Irish in the presidential tally.
To be fair, most of the time when Biden brings up his Irish heritage, he does so in a positive manner.
But his “stupid Irish” jab is one that is ready for its retirement. Just like Biden himself, actually.
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