"President Biden obviously is a very proud Irish American."
A senior aide to
Joe Biden has rejected claims that the US President is 'anti-British.'
Ahead of Biden's visit to Ireland, the American president, 80, was criticised by some senior figures within the Democratic Unionist Party, including Arlene Foster who
said that the president 'hates the United Kingdom'.
Sammy Wilson MP, meanwhile, said that
Biden, who is a proud Irish American, has a 'record of being pro-Republican, anti-Unionist, and anti-British'.
Amanda Sloat, the US President's senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, however, has disputed these claims.
Biden senior advisor dismisses 'anti-British' claims.
"I think the track record of the president shows that he’s not anti-British,"
Sloat said on Wednesday morning, ahead of
Biden's meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
"The president has been very actively engaged throughout his career, dating back to when he was a senator in the peace process in Northern Ireland.
"And that has involved meetings with leaders of all of Northern Ireland’s political parties from both of the two main communities."
Biden's advisor also dismissed the comments by
Foster, the former DUP first minister, who said that the American president 'hates the UK'.
"It’s simply untrue," Sloat said.
"The fact that the President is going to be engaging for the third time in three months, and then again next month, and then again in June, with the Prime Minister of the UK shows how close our co-operation is with the UK.”
“President Biden obviously is a very proud Irish American, he is proud of those Irish roots. But he is also a strong supporter of our bilateral partnership with the UK."
Biden's visit to Ireland started in Belfast on Wednesday, and will also take in Louth, Dublin and Mayo before he leaves the country on Friday.
Header image via Instagram/Joe Biden
This article originally appeared on joe.ie
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