US PRESIDENT Joe Biden has revealed how a “devastating” remark from his Irish counterpart, Micheál Martin, spurred on America’s fightback against Covid-19.
The Irish-American leader told the New York Times how a jibe from the Taoiseach just after he defeated Donald Trump in the presidential elections opened his eyes to the task at hand.
Biden took office just four months ago, with the US struggling to contain the pandemic.
To date, there have been over 33 million cases of Covid-19 in the US with more than 602,000 people losing their lives to the deadly coronavirus.
During a conversation with Martin just after taking office, Biden recalled the comment that made him realise the perception of the US abroad in the context of coronavirus.
He said: "The most devastating comment made after I was elected — it wasn’t so much about me — but it was by the Irish Taoiseach saying that ‘Well, America can’t lead. They can’t even get their arms around Covid.’"
America has undergone a remarkable transformation in the time since, with Biden spearheading a vaccine drive that has helped the US squash coronavirus case numbers.
As of May 20th, over 126.5 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
According to official data from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, that represents just over 38% of the entire US population.
Have helped tackle coronavirus domestically, Biden has now set his sights on helping other countries around the world.
He has already pledged to send 20 million Covid-19 vaccines abroad by the end of June while a further 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been promised to foreign allies with a further 80 million vaccine does due to be sent overseas over the next six weeks.
A proud Irish-American who has already pledged to visit Ireland as soon as possible, Biden has already been approached by Martin over potentially passing on jabs to the Emerald Isle.
