President Joe Biden received an unwelcome reception from Irish president Michael Higgins’ dog on Thursday, being loudly rebuffed during an attempt to pet the pooch.
Higgins tried to coax Bernese mountain dog Misneach out into the open during ceremonies with Biden, but the dog did not venture forth for some time.
Eventually, the dog stepped outside, prompting Biden to shuffle towards it and stoop down.
Misneach then loudly and repeatedly barked at the President, rebuffing the 80-year-old’s attempted affections.
Even dogs hate Biden… pic.twitter.com/YX2BOmfLJw
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) April 13, 2023
There was some coaxing by both President Higgins and President Biden to try to get Misneach to make an appearance, but some things even presidents can’t do it seems
(Of course he ended up making an appearance a minute later once they passed) https://t.co/037PjpMekx pic.twitter.com/xCD2rzj9Ik
— Lauren Boland (@laurenanna_1) April 13, 2023
The prime minister of Ireland later had to physically drag Biden into place for a group photo, after the latter was facing the wrong way.
The Irish president physically moves Biden into his place for a photo pic.twitter.com/Uo2Y97glce
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 13, 2023
Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, Biden, who is currently on a four day tour of the island of Ireland, visiting both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, made a comment referring to his cousin, Rob Kearney, a member of the Irish national rugby team.
In 2016, Kearney, along with his team-mates, roundly defeated the New Zealand national rugby team, known as one of the best teams in the world at the sport. “He was a hell of a rugby player, and he beat the hell out of the Black and Tans,” Biden said to the crowd in Dublin.
However, “Black and Tans” is not the nickname of the New Zealand rugby team, whose actual nickname is the All Blacks. The Black and Tans were, instead, a controversial outfit of the Royal Irish Constabulary, featuring men recruited from the rest of Great Britain, to help combat the IRA during the Irish War of Independence in 1920 and 1921.
The Black and Tans were marred in controversy, engaging in arbritrary civilian reprisals in response to suspected IRA attacks. The group is now mostly known to this day through a traditional Irish nationalist folk song, “Come Out Ye Black And Tans.”
