Joe Biden‘s Irish cousin has praised him for overcoming ‘such adversity’ in his life, and called criticism of his age ‘cheap and nasty’.
Laurita Blewitt, from County Mayo, has met the President-elect several times, and visited him in the White House during his vice-presidency under Barack Obama.
She appeared on This Morning today where she told of the 78-year-old’s ‘strong Irish values’, and said suggestions he’s too old to be President are ‘utter nonsense’ after spending ‘practically all his life’ as a politician.
Blewitt spoke of Biden overcoming a stammer as a child, revealing that he still struggles with speaking publicly and has to work hard not to ‘reintroduce’ his stutter.
Joe Biden’s Irish cousin Laurita Blewitt (pictured) has praised him for overcoming ‘such adversity’ in his life, and called criticism of his age ‘cheap and nasty’
Blewitt, from County Mayo, has met the President-elect several times, and visited him in the White House during his vice-presidency under Barack Obama
When asked about criticism of the President-elect, she said: ‘I think it’s utter nonsense. American politicians are a lot older than we have in Ireland and the UK. Nancy Pelosi is 80 years of age, she is the speaker of the house. I don’t think it’s relevant.’
‘Joe has been a politician practically all his life, he was a senator since he was 29, he’s served two terms as Vice President, he is very competent and a natural-born politician.’
She insisted scepticism about his age has been a result of running against Donald Trump, and that Biden is well equipped to take on the role of President.
‘I think it all came about because he was running against Donald Trump who was taking any opportunity to slag him off.
She appeared on This Morning today where she told of Biden’s ‘strong Irish values’ and called him ‘kind and sincere’
She told hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield (both pictured) suggestions he’s too old to be President are ‘utter nonsense’ after spending ‘practically all his life’ as a politician
‘Don’t forget Joe Biden has overcome such adversity in his life. Firstly as a child being bullied for having a stammer and it has formed him.’
She recalled a 2017 visit to Ireland where Biden opened the Mayo Roscommon Hospice, revealing that he has to make sure to ‘space out’ his sentences so he doesn’t stammer while speaking publicly.
‘I sat with him in the Jeep on the way to the speech and he was putting lines through all his sentences’, said Laurita.
‘I said “What are you doing?”. He said “Because I have a stammer, I have to space out my sentences to make sure my stutter doesn’t get reintroduced again”.
‘When he stalls or stops people say he forgets what he’s going to say, it’s just cheap talk and its nasty.’
She recalled a 2017 visit to Ireland where Biden opened the Mayo Roscommon Hospice. Pictured, Biden greeting local citizens in Ballina
Pictured, Joe Blewitt (left), a cousin of Biden, with (from left) his wife Deirdre, daughter Lauren (7), Emer Bourke, his aunt Breege Bourke and his father Brendan Blewit
She added: ‘The adversity he has had to overcome with his wife and daughter dying in a horrific car accident, his two boys in hospital for almost a year and then his son Beau dying of cancer in 2015.
‘He has overcome such adversity in his life and its utter nonsense to say he’s not up to the job.’
Laurita called Biden ‘sincere and kind’ both in private and in public, and recalled a trip she took with her brother to the White House in 2017.
‘It was amazing, she said, ‘Going to the Rose Garden, to be there in real-time was extra special.’
Laurita told the show’s hosts that his Irish heritage is ‘so important to him’ and not just a result of his election campaign
Pictured right, Laurita and her family with Biden during a trip to County Mayo in 2017
She admitted that her plumber brother had a snoop around the White House toilets, confessing: ‘He was missing for a while. He said “I was just checking out what the toilets are like in the White House”. I’m not sure if he’s part of a plumbing WhatsApp group or what.’
Laurita praised Biden’s ‘strong Irish values’, insisting that his heritage is ‘so important to him’ and not just a result of his election campaign.
She told: ‘It’s so important to him and not something that has just arisen because of the election.
‘He talks so strongly about his Irish routes continuously and how his grandmother spoke in Irish to him, how his mother brought him up with such strong Irish values
‘He’s just very, very proud of them and you see that when he speaks in public there’s always a little Irish reference.’