Biden says, “I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid” — then confuses Jill’s father with her Delaware-language grandfather
- President Joe Biden joked about his Irish heritage and Italian wife on Friday
- “I’m Irish, but I’m not stupid. I married Dominic Giacopa’s daughter,” he said
- The line caused a laugh, as it did this year on St. Patrick’s Day at the White House
- only one problem Jill Biden is Dominic Giacopa’s granddaughter
It’s one of President Joe Biden’s favorite lines, allowing him to speak about his Irish heritage and his love for Jill Biden.
“I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid,” he told an audience in New Castle, Delaware, on Friday, before delivering the punchline, “I married Dominic Giacoppa’s daughter.”
The line was made to laugh – like on St. Patrick’s Day at the White House.
only one problem It’s not exact.
Biden did, in fact, marry Dominic Giacoppa’s granddaughter, as fact-checkers point out each time the joke is deployed.
“I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid,” President Joe Biden said on Friday. “I married Dominic Giakoppa’s daughter.” In fact, he married the daughter of Donald Carl Jacob (pictured), Dominic Giakoppa’s granddaughter. The line got a hearty laugh anyway
The Bidens pictured in 1977, just before their wedding. She is the granddaughter of Giacoppa, who came to the United States from Sicily and soon changed his family name
Giacoppa emigrated to the United States from Sicily. Not only was his family name actually Giacoppo (misspelled as Giacoppa in Ellis Island), but he soon changed it to something Americans would find easier to pronounce.
And that was Jill’s father’s name, Donald Jacobs.
Biden has got it right over the past few years.
In 2013 he said to the guests at the Italian Ambassador’s “Opera Ball”: “Every year is the year of the Italian in my house
“I’m always called an Irish politician – but I was smart enough to marry Dominic Giacoppa’s granddaughter.”
This time, he held the line during a speech to encourage military veterans to take advantage of new healthcare opportunities under legislation he signed into law in August.
The event took place at the Major Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center, named for his son, who died of brain cancer in 2015.
Biden spoke Friday at the Major Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center, named for his son, who died of brain cancer in 2015
“I drive by this building a lot for Air Force One to fly back and forth to Washington, and I always get a lump in my throat,” Biden said.
“Do you know what a burn pit is? It is a hole between 8 and 10 feet high and 12 feet deep. The size of a soccer field, big big rectangle. And every damn ugly thing in the world got burned. All. All. Toxic waste, everything,” Biden said.
“I’m not a doctor, but it’s pretty clear that a lot of men and women get sick,” he added. “It’s not unique to me and my family.”
He said he was determined to take action.
“Come hell or high tide,” Biden said. “I made it very clear to the United States Congress that if they didn’t pass this damn burn pit law I would be going to holy war, no kidding.”
Biden then revealed that his uncle Frank Biden fought in the Battle of the Bulge and won the Purple Heart but never received it. When Joe Biden became president, he was given his uncle’s Purple Heart and presented it to him at home.
Biden is pictured with 102-year-old WWII veteran Ray
Biden said his uncle told him, “I don’t want the damn thing,” adding, “The others died. I lived.’
The Battle of the Bulge was Adolf Hitler’s last major offensive in Belgium during World War II. It was the deadliest battle ever for the US Army, which suffered 100,000 casualties.
Biden then paid tribute to a 102-year veteran who he said flew 25 missions over Germany.
“First lieutenant, young man, 102 years old, Ray,” Biden said. “My claim to fame is that I used to be his district councilor!”
Biden signed into law the PACT Act in August. It passed the Senate by a vote of 86 to 11 after a back-and-forth over GOP concerns about its funding.
The law relieved the burden of proof on veterans suffering from a variety of diseases from asthma to terminal cancer after exposure to toxins in Iraq and Afghanistan.