Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit! There’s an Irish lilt to proceedings in Washington today. Vice President J.D. Vance and Second Lady Usha hosted Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the Naval Observatory for breakfast this morning (Cockburn hopes both black and white pudding were served). The Taoiseach then jigged down to the White House for a bilateral meeting with President Trump – and will be hosted alongside the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland for the ceremonial “shamrock bowl” presentation this afternoon.
The festivities have been much more delicately handled than up in New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been walking a tightrope over Irish sovereignty issues. A reporter asked him yesterday, “You’ve talked about the importance of self-determination in international law – do you support a united Ireland?” Zohran laughed and responded, “I gotta be honest, I haven’t thought enough on that question,” before praising the contributions of Irish immigrants to New York City and thanking the Irish for their “solidarity.” The Mayor found himself somewhat lacking on his intersectionality bingo card: pro-reunification Irish Catholics have also been long-standing supporters of a free Palestine.
Governor Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, was unequivocal in her endorsement of a united Ireland, saying “Indeed I do.”
Mamdani attempted something of a clear-up this morning, telling the press how, “As someone who believes deeply in the principle of self-determination, I think that should also be extended to the Irish.”
And in his remarks earlier, the Mayor sounded much more like the right-on Democratic socialist that’s so beloved on college campuses. “The story of the Irish, both in Ireland and in New York City, is at one time a story of oppression, of subjugation and of discrimination,” he said. “As we know it was on Irish soil that the British Empire developed their colonial project.”
Cockburn’s British ancestors would probably make the point that they left Ireland better than they found it, but don’t let that get in the way of a good time. Slainté!
On our radar
KENT DO IT Joe Kent has resigned as director of the administration’s National Terrorism Center. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent writes, “and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
DID YOU SAVE? The SAVE America Act will be debated in the Senate today. “I WILL NEVER (EVER!) ENDORSE ANYONE WHO VOTES AGAINST ‘SAVE AMERICA!!!’,” wrote President Trump on Truth Social this morning.
MEDIA MOVES Online outlet NOTUS is set for a rebrand and has made a series of high-profile hires from the likes of the Washington Post, while Capitol Hill muckraker Juliegrace Brufke has launched her own site, Sources Say.
Angel from Montgomery
A man named Pastor Ja’Mel Brown is running for governor of Alabama on a Democratic ticket. His agenda involves an unusual set of policies, which did the rounds on X this weekend. If elected, he promises to:
- Pardon nonviolent offenders in state prisons
- Restore law and order in crime-ridden cities
- Offer $3,000 stimulus checks for those making less than $100,000
- Make Montgomery a strip-club city
- Bring back prayer in schools
- Legalize sex stores
The state motto of Alabama is “Audemus jura nostra defendere” which is Latin for “we dare defend our rights.”
Fittingly, the fact that he is a Christian pastor is prominent in his Instagram bio, yet his most recent post says he wants to bring Pornhub back: “Freedom, Choice, Common sense,” he declares.
This might be the exact balance Alabama’s voters want to see in their government. After all, this is a state that has produced the likes of both Rosa Parks and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
“A lot of people always call me the voice of the voiceless,” Brown said. “I’m proven, I’m experienced, and I’m authentic.”
It’s true that he’s been at this – “this” being running for office – a long time. He ran for mayor of Montgomery when he was just 18 years old, followed by four runs for city council. None of these campaigns were successful but Cockburn thinks 2026 could be his year. The primary takes place on May 19.
Succession planning
In the Oval Office yesterday, the New York Post’s chief DC correspondent Steven Nelson asked President Trump how he would determine if the rumor that Iran’s new Supreme Leader is gay is true.
“Well, so far nobody knows,” Trump said, swerving towards a more relevant topic: nuclear bombs. “If you look at his father, he used to give talks. You know talking about death to America. He’d say ‘death to America’ all the time. When they say death to America, you should believe them… if they had a nuclear weapon, they would have used it.”
J.D. Vance stood behind the President, smiling softly. It was difficult to make out if he was mortified or suppressing laughter. Trump went on, “Iran is a shell of itself. It’s no longer a bully. It’s the bully that gets bullied. It’s the bully that got beat up. We beat the crap out of them and they deserved that.”
When it comes to bullying, there are layers here. Mojtaba is 56 years old, nicknamed “the power behind the robes” and may have had a sexual relationship with his childhood tutor. In Iran, homosexuality is punishable by death. His father did not want him to lead the country because of concerns around his “personal life.” Trump laughed out loud earlier while being briefed by intelligence on the subject.
Maybe Vance and Mojtaba can bond over having been overlooked by their larger-than-life mentors.
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