He might just be parroting what he heard someone Jewish say, to get street cred with the Tribe. Either that, or gentleman that he is, he’s giving us fair warning.
I’m trying to imagine my reaction if he had said to me (or my mother, a legal immigrant, and her reaction), “no matter how hospitable, no matter how consequential, no matter how engaged, no matter how deeply involved you are in the United States—there’s only one guarantee, and that’s the Republic of Ireland”.