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The Trump Administration’s Awkward St. Patrick's Day

Strike three, guys

via Twitter

We’re not even two months into the Trump administration and they already get an F for cultural outreach. First, there’s the xenophobic policies with the Muslim ban, border wall with Mexico, and uptick in deportations. There’s also been Vice-President Mike Pence’s Black History Month tweet honoring a white guy and the Holocaust Remembrance Day statement that failed to mention the Jewish people. Now, they’re back at it again with a lackluster St. Patrick’s Day celebration.


Thursday, Ireland’s prime minister, Enda Kenny, sat down for breakfast with Vice-President Mike Pence who greeted him with “top of the morning,” a cringeworthy cliche that few have ever heard an Irishman utter. Later that day at a luncheon, President Trump recited an Irish proverb that no Irish person has ever heard:

“Always remember to forget the friends that proved untrue, but never forget to remember those that have stuck by you.”

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Which brings us to the third strike of the day. This heinous cultural offense was perpetrated by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. After a speech touting his Irish ancestry, he led a toast with a pint of Guinness that no self-respecting Irishman would ever drink. The pint was quickly criticized on social media by many Irish people for its paltry head that was a few inches shy of being topped off.

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Guinness has a very special place in Irish culture and is widely considered the country’s national drink. According to Guinness brewmaster Fergal Murray, pouring a pint of Guinness is “a ritual. It’s theater. It’s about creating an experience.” He also says that a proper pint must be poured in a two-step process. “Let the beer flow nice and smoothly into the angled glass and fill it up three-quarters of the way,” Murray said. “Once it settles, you want to fill up the glass and top it off. You allowed it to settle, you created a domed effect across the top of the pint, and now your head is looking proud over the glass. That’s the perfect vision of the perfect pint.”

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