Columnist Miriam Lord said Pence was treated as an “important guest” during his visit to the nation earlier this week, but he didn’t behave like one with his comments about Brexit at the end of his trip.
“Like pulling out all the stops for a much-anticipated visitor to your home and thinking it has been a great success until somebody discovers he shat on the new carpet in the spare room, the one you bought specially for him,” she wrote in a blistering editorial piece.
Pence ― and President Donald Trump ― support the U.K.’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union. During his visit, Pence urged Ireland “to negotiate in good faith with Prime Minister [Boris] Johnson.”
That’s not a popular issue in Ireland, where such an exit is already raising contentious issues, especially over the border with Northern Ireland.
The Guardian called Pence’s visit and comments “awkward.” Irish Central asked in a headline: “Did VP Pence betray Ireland in his Brexit comments during Irish trip?” An Irish Examiner column accused Pence of trying to “humiliate” Ireland.
“The cheek of him coming here, eating our food, clogging up our roads and then having the nerve to humiliate his hosts,” wrote political editor Daniel McConnell.
But some of the harshest criticism came from Lord.
“As Pence read from the autocue and Irish eyes definitely stopped smiling,” she wrote. “it was clear he was channeling His Master’s Voice. Trump is a fan of Brexit and of Boris.”
Read her full column here.
