Hunter Biden accepted the Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse at Trinity College in Dublin on Sunday. The award was for his contribution to public discourse. Hunter Biden.
Outside, anti-Israel protesters were throwing milk cartons at his father's motorcade.
The scene at Trinity College on November 10 was something out of a fever dream. Joe Biden, accompanied by Jill Biden, had traveled to Ireland for what was supposed to be a dignified ceremony and a meeting with Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Instead, protesters surrounded the motorcade chanting "Blood, blood, blood on your hands!" and calling Biden a "war criminal." Security rushed the former president into a waiting vehicle as objects — milk cartons, per video circulating online — were hurled at the cars. Two people were arrested by local police.
Remember, this is Ireland. The country that gave Biden a hero's welcome in 2023 when he showed up to trace his roots and kiss babies. The country where entire towns turned out to wave at his motorcade. Now those same streets had people screaming "Shame on you!" while dairy products flew through the air.
And the reason for the trip makes it worse. Hunter Biden — a man whose "public discourse" contributions include a laptop scandal, a federal gun conviction, and a tax case that ended in a presidential pardon — was being handed a gold medal for excellence in that very field. Trinity College looked at the full landscape of Irish and global public figures and decided Hunter Biden best represented outstanding contribution to public discourse.
The protesters, for their part, weren't there about Hunter's award. They were focused on the Biden administration's handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict, which tells you something about how many different groups have reasons to be furious at this family at any given time. The award ceremony crowd was inside celebrating Hunter's eloquence. The crowd outside was calling his father a war criminal. Two events, same building, same afternoon.
Biden himself acknowledged during the visit that his health has been limiting his schedule. "Some days are better than others," he said, noting that doctors "continue to be encouraged by how I've responded to treatment" but that he "won't be able to do as many conversations about my book as I'd hoped." He's in Ireland promoting a memoir while under cancer treatment.
The umbrella. That's the detail that sticks. According to reports from WLT Report and video from the scene, one of the thrown objects was blocked by an umbrella near Biden as security closed in. Not a reinforced barrier. Not an armored shield. An umbrella. That's the image from America's former president's trip abroad — a man being shielded from flying milk cartons with an umbrella outside the building where his son just won an award for talking good.
Three years ago, Ireland was the friendliest stop on Biden's calendar. He quoted Seamus Heaney. He teared up about his ancestors. The whole country was a photo op.
Two arrests. Milk cartons. An umbrella. The gold medal went to Hunter.