President Joe Biden joked about his age to the Irish parliament as he considers seeking reelection next year, contending he brings "a little bit of wisdom" to the White House.
“I’m at the end of my career, not the beginning," he told the houses of the Oireachtas in Dublin on Thursday. "The only thing I bring to this career after my age, as you can see how old I am, is a little bit of wisdom."
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"I come to the job with more experience than any president in American history," he added, after quoting Irish poet Seamus Heaney's The Cure At Troy. "Doesn't make me better or worse, but it gives me a few excuses."
Biden's address to the parliament was highly personal, with the president repeatedly referencing his Irish roots and family members, including his mother, Catherine, and his late son, Beau. He also said his grandfather once compared him to "that guy who led the Revolution."
"He said, 'You gotta be less like the military guy. They shot him,'" the president said.
But Biden additionally spoke to the United States and Ireland's shared history and values, including honesty, dignity, and justice. He went on to cite climate change as a shared concern, noting, "We don't have a lot of time."
His remarks, delivered on the second full day of his five-day trip, were sandwiched between meetings with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and President Michael Higgins, as well as a youth Gaelic sports demonstration and a banquet dinner.
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After confusing New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team with the 1920s British police force, known as the Black and Tans, which cracked down on rebels during the Irish War of Independence, during a community gathering in Dundalk, Ireland, Biden mentioned the sport again to the parliament.
"I'd rather have my children playing rugby now for health reasons than I would have playing [American] football," he said Thursday. "Fewer people get hurt playing rugby, and you have no equipment. ... You just don't hit each other in the head very often."