White House plays down Biden’s ‘Black and Tans’ rugby gaffe in Ireland

The White House on Thursday cleaned up President Joe Biden’s blunder when he confused the Black and Tans, a British force that brutally crushed Irish insurgents in the 1920s, with the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.

“I think it was incredibly clear to anyone in Ireland who was a rugby fan that the president was talking about the All Blacks and Ireland’s defeat to the New Zealand team in 2016,” said Amanda Sloat, senior National Security Director for Europe. during a morning briefing.

The misstep threatened to overshadow Biden’s cross-border activities a day earlier, when he had to walk the thin line to keep Northern Ireland’s Protestant and Catholic communities happy.

But referencing the hated British force quickly sparked pro-London trade unionists in the north.

The White House has even released the official transcript of the event at a restaurant in Dundalk, Co. Louth cleaned up, breaking the words ‘Black and Tans’.

“He was a great rugby player, and he hit the hell out of the box [All Blacks],” read the account of his comments about his cousin Rob Kearney, who was part of a team that beat New Zealand in Chicago in 2016.

He had even claimed, in added comments, that Kearney beat up the Black and Tans.

The Black and Tans were a British auxiliary force deployed a century ago during the Irish War of Independence.

They became notorious for their brutality against Republicans, Catholics and anyone who stood in their way.

The force was responsible for shooting 14 people and wounding 60 others during a Gaelic football match at Croke Park in Dublin in 1920.

Biden has spoken of learning stories of their fame from his anti-British great-aunt Gertie.

And his slip of the tongue was quickly taken as another sign that Biden is hostile to the UK.

It almost took the shine off a decent day’s work from Biden. He arrived in Belfast in the midst of a political deadlock, with trade unionists worried that such a pro-Irish president did not understand their position.

Instead, he used a speech at the University of Ulster to highlight his British roots and say that politics in Northern Ireland was a matter for the people of Northern Ireland.

“We’ve had incredibly positive feedback from all communities and political parties there,” Sloat said.

“I think it’s a very important message that the president can convey to the people of Northern Ireland.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden “had the time of his life” later in the day as he crossed the border and met relatives in Co. Louth.

Thursday is a day of official business: meetings with the Irish President and Prime Minister, followed by a speech to the Irish Parliament.

That makes him the fourth president to address a joint session of the Irish parliament, after Kennedy in 1963, Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Bill Clinton in 1995.

Officials said the speech will focus on “cooperation between the US to promote democracy, peace, security and prosperity, as well as the profound shared history between the US and Ireland.”

This is followed by a state banquet at Dublin Castle.

Fridays are more family time. Biden will travel west to see family in Ballina, County Mayo, and deliver a speech to an expected crowd of about 20,000.