As Donald Trump went to Scotland and attacked his political opponents on Friday, Vice President Biden returned the favor by hitting Trump during a speech in Ireland.
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But he moved to reassure the Irish people that the United States’ relationship with Ireland and the European Union “will remain the cornerstone of its global engagement”. “But we respect their position”.
After his round, Mr Biden marked the occasion by planting a native Mountain Ash tree on the grounds of the club before mingling with members in the clubhouse over tea and apple tart.
Quoting WB Yeats, he said “all has changed, changed utterly – a bad beauty has been born” around the globe.
He said: “We, the President and I, the United States, found that a majority of the British people voted to leave the European Union”.
“In the past 15 years, all has changed in the world”.
He told rain-drenched guests there that the entire world faced enormous challenges, which, he added, provide “fertile terrain for reactionary politicians and demagogues”. “Some politicians find it convenient to scapegoat immigrants rather than welcome them, to play to our fears rather than as Abraham Lincoln said “appeal to our better angels”. “It is un-American what we have seen”.
“We’re defined by a common creed that says to our children that if they work hard, if they struggle, if they are loyal, if they are courageous – they will have an opportunity to live a better life than the generation before them”, Biden was to say. “It is not who we are”.
Mr Biden was speaking at an event in Trinity College this morning where he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the university.
According to advance remarks provided to the Los Angeles Times, Biden will note how his mother instilled in him a pride in his Irish heritage, as well as “an absolute certitude that she or any of us were equal to any man or woman on Earth”.
Wellwishers lined the streets of Ballina on Wednesday, as he toured the town his great-great-great-grandfather, Edward Blewitt, left in 1851.
He had finished off his first day in Mayo with a musical session in Matt Molloy’s pub in Westport, where news of the Irish win in France saw Mr Biden and Mr Kenny lead the pub in a rendition of “Ole, Ole, Ole”.
Both Scotland and Northern Ireland have voted to remain in the European Union, meaning there is now great uncertainty for both.
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The vice-president was expected to visit Co Louth today to visit Newgrange and sites with ancestral links.
