President Joe Biden is on an extensive four-day trip to Ireland. His trip included a stop in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, then continued on the Republic of Ireland. The visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreements, signed in 1998 between the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom to stop the conflict between the two sides.
Images from the first two days of the trip showed a great welcome from the Irish to the president, who was accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, as well as his son Hunter. During this trip, the the president traveled with the classic security motorcade that accompanies U.S. presidents on foreign trips.
Joe Biden went past our road in Inchicore.
It's quite the motorcade. pic.twitter.com/rJjr79kWQV
— Michael Pidgeon (@Pidge) April 13, 2023
Only one day after expressing his desire for electric vehicles to account for 67% of the U.S. auto market by 2032, Biden drove through Ireland with a huge motorized convoy of more than 20 armored cars, three cargo planes, plus Air Force One and even the presidential helicopter. Some Irish people have put the spotlight on this hypocrisy, complaining on social media about the large carbon footprint President Biden is leaving on the island during his visit.
The former mayor of Dublin disregarded this detail and celebrated the visit of the Democratic president. Hazul Chu, of the environmentalist party, said on a radio program that Biden has "green credentials."
Hazel Chu on the radio saying she welcomes Joe Biden's visit to Ireland citing his green credentials. This is how he travelled to Glasgow for a climate change conference #Green pic.twitter.com/yfvDX3ueUL
— Féach News (@_FeachNews) April 11, 2023
Meanwhile, Biden's entourage contains the following vehicles:
- the "pilot" car and its replacement, both open the convoy;
- the Secret Service security team's vehicle, known as the Halfback;
- the electronic countermeasures vehicle, known as Watchtower, which carries signal jammers and security measures against cyber attacks;
- the support and control car, which carries part of the president's cabinet;
- the Secret Service tactical counter-assault team car, nicknamed the Hawkeye Renegade;
- the Intelligence vehicle; Hammer, the emergency medical response vehicle for hazardous agent mitigation;
- the press team's trolley;
- the president's mobile command and control vehicle;
- an ambulance and finally several Irish police motorcycles.
Joe Biden will arrive in Ireland tomorrow having flown 3,000+ miles
His 16 vehicle gas guzzling motorcade is flying in seperately
Joe's jamboree & accompanying motorcade will produce tons of CO2
Those who shout 'climate emergency' also seem by far to produce the most CO2 pic.twitter.com/zEdziUAYtw
— Kinlochleven7 (@kinlochleven7) April 10, 2023
All of these transports are tailor-made for the tasks they perform. They are armored and weigh more than average due to the equipment they carry. They therefore consume more than vehicles of the same model that are sold to the public. They are mostly SUVs made by Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota. Among the convoy are also two identical Cadillac limousines, known as "The Beast," also armored. They weigh in at 20,000 pounds each, not including passengers. In one of them is the president of the United States. The icing on the cake is the Marine One helicopter, a VH-3D Sea King, and the Ground Force One armored bus.
All of the presidential motorcade vehicles were transported to Ireland from the United States aboard three Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft. These large military transport aircraft landed at Belfast Airport and unloaded the vehicles prior to the arrival of Air Force One, as documented by several sources.
