Joe Biden looks every bit of his 81 years but, as Varadkar found out, US president still sharp as a tack
Taoiseach’s plan to push for peace in Gaza fell flat before Washington lunch
Joe Biden looks like an 81-year-old man. He talks slowly, walks awkwardly and appears to wear some form of make-up that gives him the appearance of a wax museum mannequin.
He was almost impossible to hear when he spoke in the Oval Office during his meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. This wasn’t made any easier by the thundering roars of the US press who competitively scream questions at the president while he sits in silence.
During a lunch on Capitol Hill, Mr Biden looked like he was moving in slow motion as he sipped from his Coca-Cola. He did not appear to interact with any of the other guests at his table, who included Mr Varadkar and Irish ambassador to the US Geraldine Byrne Nason.
He smiled on cue when he was mentioned and gave a thumbs-up to a violinist at the lunch hosted by House Speaker Mike Johnson.
He struggled with a few names during his speech. He did not even dare try Northern Ireland deputy first minister Emma Little Pengelly’s name. Mr Biden asked her and first minister Michelle
O’Neill – whose name he knew – to stand up during his speech. He was praising them for getting the political institutions in the North up and running.
After the lunch, at the scene of the infamous January 6, 2021 insurrection, the assembled media gathered beside the presidential car and waited for Mr Biden to make it down more than 50 steps from the top of the iconic building. He took it in his stride – no small feat for an 81-year-old.
A lot of attention in the run-up to November’s election has been around Mr Biden’s age. He will be 82 on November 20, which is two weeks after America decides whether they want to be led by him or 77-year-old Donal Trump.
Due to it being an election year, and Mr Biden’s determination to make the most of every Irish stereotype possible, the St Patrick’s Day White House events take place over two days this year.
Yesterday was the day for a meeting with Mr Varadkar in the White House along with the lunch on Capitol Hill, which included the aforementioned fiddler accompanied by some Irish dancers.
Mr Biden regaled guests with stories about Irish ancestors. He had some good lines, such as every St Patrick’s Day every Irish man is out looking to find another Irish man to make a speech to.
He did his “look to heaven and tell mom it’s OK” routine. He even tried out a few original Biden quotes on the crowd.
“The Irish are the only people in the world who are nostalgic about tomorrow,” he said. God knows what that is supposed to mean.
Earlier in the day at the White House, he told the Taoiseach of an “old Irish saying” from his “grandfather Finnegan”, which was: “May the hinge of our friendship never go rusty.”
There were not many in the travelling Irish contingent who were aware of the saying.
However, on the issues of substance, such as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Mr Biden was forthright.
The Taoiseach described the US president during their private meeting as being in “very good form” and “very engaged” .
In public, Mr Biden made a big show of agreeing with Mr Varadkar when he called for a ceasefire in the Israeli war on Gaza and for the development of a two-state solution to once and for all resolve decades of violence in the Middle East.
But in the privacy of the Oval Office, Mr Biden was adamant that the US will continue to provide military support to Israel.
Just before the meeting, former Irish president Mary Robinson intervened to call on Mr Varadkar to use his access to demand that America “stop the money” for military arms, as this would lead to a ceasefire.
“He must use this completely politically at all levels, with the speaker of the House [of Representatives], with everyone to make it clear that Israel depends on the United States for military aid for money,” Mrs Robinson said.
The Taoiseach, who has been talking a good game all week about the need for a ceasefire, was forced to admit after his meeting with Mr Biden that he hadn’t brought up the topic of military aid.
In fact, it was Mr Biden who put a marker down by setting out the US position on empowering Israel to protect itself against its enemies in the Arab world.
Mr Varadkar also said no one likes how US weapons are being used in Gaza.
The focus moves to the Shamrock ceremony in the White House tomorrow, when Varadkar will have another opportunity to highlight America’s role in the war in Gaza.
However, from their first day of engagements, it looks like Biden is well able to run rings around another leader – even if they are almost half his age.
He told the Taoiseach of an “old Irish saying” from his “grandfather Finnegan” which was “may the hinge of our friendship never go rusty”