Image copyright Pool

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan lifted a pint of Guinness at the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon in Washington, DC.

But the symbolic act may have backfired due to the look of the beer in the glass.

"First Mike Pence says 'top of the morning', then Paul Ryan holds up this appalling pint, grave missteps by the US," wrote Irish journalist Naomi O'Leary.

The toast came at the end of a speech on Ryan's Irish roots.

"Ireland may be a small island, but look at all she has given us. Her light floods the world. To America, she is, as General Washington himself said, 'friend of my country in my country's most friendless day.' "

Ryan raised the glass - with a thin layer of foam inches away from the top of the rim - as a gestures of friendship during the annual luncheon, which has occurred since 1983.

US President Donald Trump and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny were also in attendance.

"To what our forefathers have started, and our children will continue. May the light always shine upon them. Slainte," he said.

On Twitter, pint purists ignored his warm words, and instead focused on his poor pour.

"In a subtle yet cavalier act of diplomacy, Enda has given Paul Ryan the worst pint of Guinness imaginable," wrote Irishman Conor O'Neill.

"Just how long has that pint been sat there? I can barely look..." wrote Neil Wilson, campaigns director for Conservatives for Liberty.

"The tremendous amount of real estate at the top of that pint, probably pulled an hour before," lamented Boston-based music critic Emily Reily.

And some couldn't help draw comparisons to the frothy pint Barack Obama enjoyed on a trip to Ireland in 2011.

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But the bottom line remains: Ryan was drinking a beer at lunch while many Americans - and Irish - were still stuck at their desks.

And that raises the question: is a bad pint of Guinness better than no pint at all?