Joe Biden has sparked an angry backlash for his constant “Britain bashing” after becoming embroiled in a dispute over Ireland.
The US President has compared Britain’s attitude toward Ireland to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
“My background and the background of my family is Irish American,” he said in Israel, “and we have a long history of – not fundamentally unlike the Palestinian people – with Great Britain and their attitude towards Irish-Catholics over the years, for 400 years.”
Former British Ambassador to Germany Sir Paul Lever posted on Twitter, “President Biden has compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to Britain’s treatment of Irish Catholics. He could also have mentioned, but didn’t, his own country’s treatment of black and native Americans.”
Mr Biden has long mentioned his Irish heritage (he is thought to be five-eighths Irish) when discussing UK issues.
In 2020, when asked for a comment by the BBC, he responded, “The BBC? “I am Irish.”
The President has also taken a firm stance on the ongoing Northern Ireland Protocol dispute.
Leading Democrat Nancy Pelosi insisted in May that if the Protocol is ripped up, the Biden administration would reject the possibility of a UK-US free trade agreement.
“Negotiated agreements, such as the Protocol, preserve the significant progress and stability established by the Good Friday Accords… If the UK chooses to undermine the Good Friday Accords, the Congress cannot and will not support a bilateral free trade agreement with the UK.”
According to former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib, American leaders must “get out of British constitutional matters.”
“As close an ally as it is, the US takes the UK for granted,” he added.