Video: Biden Appears to Push UK Prime Minister Aside in Bizarre Tarmac Meeting
President Joe Biden appeared to snub British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak upon arriving in Belfast, Northern Ireland, early Wednesday morning.
Video of the moment Biden stepped off Air Force One at Belfast International Airport showed him moving Sunak to the side so he could salute King Charles III’s personal representative for County Antrim, Lord-Lieutenant David McCorkell, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
Moment UK PM Rishi Sunak greets Joe Biden in Belfast
The US president is beginning a four-day trip to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Irelandhttps://t.co/uzN5dYvmyt pic.twitter.com/0p0f6wk8JL
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) April 11, 2023
In response to a video of the incident, one Twitter user said, “It’s not exactly a push but he quite disrespectfully kind of places Sunak to one side like he’s not that bothered about him. Biden is not a nice man. He thinks this shows his ‘Oirish’ credentials to be giving short shrift to the UK PM.”
Biden often touts his Irish ancestry. He planned to visit the Republic of Ireland for two-and-a-half days after spending a half-day in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Euronews reported the president will retrace his family roots to the seaside town of Carlingford in Ireland.
Regarding the incident on the tarmac, another Twitter user suggested Biden might have moved Sunak to the side because he did not know or recognize the prime minister and might have thought McCorkell was Charles.
He just pushed Sunak aside and salute the Lord Lieutenant of County Antrim perhaps he thought he was King Charles or may be he just didn’t recognise Sunak.
— Zaki Khan (@ImZak06) April 11, 2023
However, Paul Clark, a news host with Northern Ireland’s UTV, argued that Biden handled the situation correctly.
“It’s called international protocol!!!! On arrival, a visiting Head of State is welcomed by – in this case – the Lord Lieutenant for County Antrim… representing the King!” Clark tweeted.
Biden later met with Sunak one-on-one at a Belfast hotel for a cup of tea before heading to Ulster University in Belfast to deliver a speech.
Biden began his visit to Belfast by meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The two leaders had tea at Biden’s hotel before the president headed to Ulster University to deliver remarks. https://t.co/A4A5um1v2P pic.twitter.com/3vJ8c6JZac
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 12, 2023
The Washington Post reported that the president is in Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of bloody fighting between Catholics and Protestants on the Emerald Isle.
Former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III of Massachusetts, whom Biden named as a special envoy to Northern Ireland in December, accompanied the president on Wednesday in Belfast.
Joseph Kennedy III, President Biden’s Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, “We believe in Northern Ireland, we believe in peace” pic.twitter.com/JzF95gjgIm
— David Charter (@DavidCharter) April 12, 2023
Kennedy is the grandson of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the great-nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy.
59 years ago today, President John F. Kennedy visited County Cork and remarked on Ireland’s long history of emigration:
“Most countries send out oil, iron, steel or gold, some others crops, but Ireland has only one export and that is it’s people.” pic.twitter.com/vBYuryjOMn
— U.S. Embassy Dublin (@USEmbassyDublin) June 28, 2022
JFK, who like Biden was also an Irish Catholic, visited his ancestral home in June 1963 during the last year of his presidency.
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