Arnie invites Taoiseach to his home city in California
LEO Varadkar insisted he’ll be back after Arnold Schwarzenegger invited him to return to his home city of Santa Monica.
The movie star-turned-politician pressed the Taoiseach to visit him when the men met briefly on the fringes of the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, yesterday.
Mr Varadkar was a guest at the event on what was the first day of his St Patrick’s Day tour of the US.
Terminator star and former California governor Schwarzenegger repeatedly asked Mr Varadkar whether he was going to visit Santa Monica. “I have been to Santa Monica many times,” Mr Varadkar replied.
The movie star told the Taoiseach he would be “always welcome” in the Californian coastal city. Mr Varadkar assured him he would make a return visit.
“Ireland is going to open a consulate in LA next year,” the Taoiseach added.
“You don’t have to wait that long — you come out earlier,” the former bodybuilder responded.
Later, Varadkar said the US was no longer a world leader in LGBT rights. He said he believed the majority of American people would agree with him, even if the Trump administration did not. The Irish premier said he would raise gay rights when he meets President Trump in the White House on Thursday.
“What I intend to say is that for the vast majority of people around the world, including people from gay lesbian transgender backgrounds, we have always seen America as a beacon of freedom,” the Taoiseach said.
“This is the land of the free, the home of the brave. This is where the LGBT rights movement began.”
He added: “It is really tough to see a country that is built on freedom, and built on individual freedom somehow not being a world leader in that space anymore.
“I actually think on this issue the majority of American people would agree with what I have to say, even if the administration doesn’t.”