The gaffe by US President Joe Biden in Dundalk on Wednesday was corrected in the official White House transcript of what was said yesterday.
During his remarks in Louth, he appeared to confuse the All Blacks with the Black and Tans when speaking about ex-rugby player Rob Kearney.
When he made the comments Biden was standing near the former Irish rugby international, who is his distant relative and who had played in the rugby union match being discussed.
READ MORE: Joe Biden in Ireland LIVE: Full itinerary, schedule and road closures as trip continues in Dublin
As many people in Ireland know, the Black and Tans is the name for part-time officers recruited to bolster Royal Irish Constabulary numbers, many of whom gained a violent reputation.
Biden said: "This was given to me by one of these guys, right here, who was a hell of a rugby player. He beat the hell out of the Black and Tans."
However, in the official transcript of President Biden’s comments released by the White House, Black and Tans was crossed out with All Blacks put in instead.
The White House also said it was “very clear” to Irish rugby fans that US President Joe Biden was referring to the New Zealand rugby team the All Blacks when he made a mistaken reference to “the Black and Tans”.
Asked if he realised his mistake, US National Security Council senior director for Europe Amanda Sloat said: “It was clear what the president was referring to, it was certainly clear to his cousins sitting next to him.”
Thursday is the big day in Dublin for Biden. Throughout the day he will meet President Michael D Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin, and take part in a tree-planting ceremony and a ringing of the Peace Bell. He will also head to Farmleigh for discussions with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
Biden will then address the Dáil, the fourth US president to do so, following JFK in 1963, Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Bill Clinton in 1995.
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