American President Joe Biden is in the midst of a controversial trip to his familial homeland of Ireland.
The area has a long history of violence between the British Crown and Irish citizens, and Biden accidentally sparked the rift on Wednesday.
Biden’s cousin, rugby player Rob Kearney, beat the famous All Blacks of New Zealand as a member of the Irish National team.
While speaking to reporters, however, Biden confused the All Blacks with the “Black and Tans,” the British reserve troops that fought in the Irish War of Independence.
“Kearney beat the [heck] out of the Black and Tans,” Biden mistakenly remarked, according to Sky News correspondent Stephen Murphy.
Biden has spoken about his Irish heritage numerous times. His grandfather is from the Emerald Isle.
“Later when [my grandfather] was much older and I’d walk out of his home, he’d say, ‘Joey, remember: The best drop of blood in you is Irish.’ I remembered it, I promise you,” Biden joked in 2021. “[If] I didn’t, my grandmother, Geraldine Blewitt Finnegan, would take me down.”
The response on Twitter was largely comical, with many joking that Biden intentionally mentioned the reviled Black and Tans on purpose. The most likely scenario is that Biden simply made a comical error.
