“I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid,” Biden said as he greeted 102-year-old World War II veteran Ray Firmani during a veterans event in New Castle, Delaware. “I married the daughter of Dominique Giacoppa,” Biden continued, “so now I have a little bit of Italian in me, you know?
An audience of military veterans and federal officials listened in silence to the outlandish comments from the White House, but Twitter users reacted strongly to Biden’s comments. “A hate crime,” wrote Irish Catholic reporter Mary Margaret Olohan. “Just the usual old-school anti-Irish stereotypes,” Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy said.
Other users have pointed out that Biden is “confused” about his wife Jill’s genealogy. “Giacoppa was actually Jill Biden’s grandfather, not her father,” wrote Steve Guest, communications adviser to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. “Joe Biden gets the simplest things wrong.”
These revelations from the 46th president of the United States have so far become the latest in a series of oversights, blunders and inaccuracies that Biden has made recently. As the oldest US president in history, Biden’s quick wit has been further questioned, especially after he searched the crowd for the late Rep. Jackie Valorsky in September, six weeks after he publicly offered condolences to his family.
