--- description: Politicians including House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump made some blunders while trying to celebrate St. Patrick's Day title: Here Are All of D.C.'s St. Patrick's Day Faux Pas This Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a58cf4ecf6fe609/6988beed4dd2154987efe2c2/sean-spicer-st-patricks-day.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here Are All of D.C.'s St. Patrick's Day Faux Pas This Year by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 17, 2017 8:25 PM CUT  WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer calls on reporters' in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House March 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. Spicer accused the news media of "cherry-picking" information when reporting about President Donald Trump's accusation that former President Barack Obama wire-tapped Trump Tower. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer calls on reporters' in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House March 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. Spicer accused the news media of "cherry-picking" information when reporting about President Donald Trump's accusation that former President Barack Obama wire-tapped Trump Tower. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 17, 2017 8:25 PM CUT From pints of guinness to parades and green dye, St. Patrick’s Day often gives politicians and those working in Washington ample opportunity to get into the spirit. Although some tried to do so this year, politicians including House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump made some blunders. Here’s a roundup of some of the faux pas and how the reactions unfolded. **President Trump and the proverb (that very likely could have been from a Nigerian poem)** Speaking at a “Friends of Ireland” lunch during a visit from the Irish Prime Minister, President Trump invoked a proverb. ” As we stand together with our Irish friends, I’m reminded of that proverb — and this is a good one, this is one I like; I’ve heard it for many, many years and I love it — ‘Always remember to forget the friends that proved untrue. But never forget to remember those that have stuck by you,’” Trump said. “It’s a great phrase.” But, as some on Twitter noted, the quote sounded very similar to the words of a Nigerian man, Albasheer Adam Alhassan. > [](https://twitter.com/BillsNewAccount/status/842427901488308224) > [](https://twitter.com/DrUmarAlQadri/status/842690162027061249) > [](https://twitter.com/marklittlenews/status/842412574947872769) Alhassan [told CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/17/politics/trumps-irish-proverb-nigerian-poem/ "undefined"), “I posted those things when I was back in school, over 10 years ago. I never thought it would get to this level.” The proverb was originally provided by the State Department as a “building block” for the event, [The Hill](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/324416-trumps-favorite-irish-proverb-might-actually-be-from-a-nigerian "undefined") reports. **Paul Ryan Struggled With a Pint of Guiness** Twitter had a field day after an image of Paul Ryan holding up a pint of Guinness at that same lunch went viral. The beer’s head, which is typically served thick and foamy, appeared to be lacking. > [](https://twitter.com/NaomiOhReally/status/842413584529424385) > [](https://twitter.com/MallowNews/status/842415653009149953) > [](https://twitter.com/jherbertwriter/status/842615743371993089) > [](https://twitter.com/jherbertwriter/status/842615743371993089) > [](https://twitter.com/FanSince09/status/842465450453696512) **Sean Spicer’s Green Tie** Melissa McCarthy could have more fodder for a _Saturday Night Live_ appearance. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer wore a kelly-green tie to his daily press briefing Thursday, provoking one Twitter, Buzzfeed’s Jesse McLaren, user to transform it into a green screen for [a viral video](http://time.com/4705168/sean-spicer-tie-photoshop/ "undefined") that has been viewed more than a million times. > [](https://twitter.com/McJesse/status/842481727419420674) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4705610/st-patricks-day-faux-paus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4705610/st-patricks-day-faux-paus/"},"headline":"Here Are All of D.C.'s St. Patrick's Day Faux Pas This Year","datePublished":"2017-03-17T20:25:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:54:35.913Z","description":"Politicians including House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump made some blunders while trying to celebrate St. Patrick's Day","url":"https://time.com/4705610/st-patricks-day-faux-paus/","keywords":["Holidays","St. Patrick's Day","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a58cf4ecf6fe609/6988beed4dd2154987efe2c2/sean-spicer-st-patricks-day.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a58cf4ecf6fe609/6988beed4dd2154987efe2c2/sean-spicer-st-patricks-day.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Brief The Media At The White House","caption":"OMB Director Mick Mulvaney And White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Brief The Media At The White House","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4705610/st-patricks-day-faux-paus/","name":"Here Are All of D.C.'s St. Patrick's Day Faux Pas This Year"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sean Spicer Comments on Wiretapping Allegations","description":"Press Secretary Sean Spicer provides comments to the White House press pool on President Trump's wiretapping allegations.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Emrptahy/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-17T13:25:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Emrptahy.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4705610/st-patricks-day-faux-paus/","duration":"PT54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4705610/st-patricks-day-faux-paus/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```