About two-thirds of Canadians surveyed this month said American democracy cannot survive another four years of Donald Trump in the White House, and about half said the United States is on the way to becoming an authoritarian state, a poll released on Monday said.
The November U.S. election is likely to pit President Joe Biden against Trump, who is the clear frontrunner to win the Republican nomination as voting in the presidential primary race kicks off in Iowa on Monday.
Sixty-four percent of respondents in the Angus Reid Institute poll of 1,510 Canadians said they agreed with the statement: “U.S. democracy cannot survive another four years of Donald Trump.” Twenty-eight percent disagreed.
The Jan. 6, 2021 attack on Capitol Hill by Trump supporters seeking to block certification of Biden’s 2020 election win shocked many Canadians, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly blamed Trump for inciting the mob.
Many Americans worry too, Canada.
Not enough.
Tens of millions of Americans look at the choice between Biden and Trump and choose Trump. That’s insane.
It’s nearly half the US population that wants Trump in charge. That’s terrifying.
It’s also scary that a lot of the Americans who live in left-leaning states aren’t all that concerned. They somehow think that because their state is left-leaning and their neighbours share their political views, that somehow a second Trump presidency wouldn’t affect them much.
This is the death rattle of the most entitled, largest, generation in America. They do not care where America will be in 10 years because they won’t be alive and they think it’s hilarious. It’s a geriatric tantrum.
45-64 year olds only went for Biden by 1 percentage point in 2020, 49% for Trump, 50% for Biden. And for 30-44 year olds it was only 45% for Trump, 52% for Biden.
This isn’t just a problem with old people, even though they’re the only group that went for Trump overall. There are still a lot of younger people voting for Trump who won’t be dying off for decades. The people who voted for Trump are a slight minority and the minority will be getting smaller over time. But, many of them are hoping that the GOP will break the system so the minority can rule over the majority, even if that means no more democracy.
I think as long as there are two parties, elections in America will always be close. Add gerrymandering and violently polarizing rhetoric into the mix and you have our current situation. In regards to a solution, I don’t think there is one. America is a country founded on an unwavering belief in individualism. We often overlook the obviously correct decision instead deciding to take the “road less traveled” even if it makes zero sense to do so. Anything to be different! Americans also love to gamble and we view the obvious decision as having worse odds.
Hopefully enough of them…
I worry how fucked we are. Like are we all gonna get a slim and slender dill pickle unfavorably shoved up our poop cutters OR are we going to get a giant prickly cactus shoved brazenly right up to our colons?
I think that will depend on how wealthy, white, straight, and male you are. Mostly in that order, but not always.
Canadians are also more clear than Americans that this isn’t a Trump problem. He’s just the symptom.
Canadians who are old enough remember the Bush II presidency, where Canada decided it wasn’t going to join the US on its adventure in Iraq, and Americans freaked out. Americans started boycotting Canadian goods, and saying that if Canada wasn’t siding with the US it was siding with the “terrists”.
The election of Obama restored some hope that maybe things were getting better, but the reaction to that with the whole Tea Party thing, and then the Trump presidency showed it wasn’t a blip, and that almost 50% of Americans were not rational people. Then there are things like the frequent government shutdowns, the constant gun massacres, the overtly political Supreme Court and its recent stance that precedent doesn’t matter.
Back when Reagan was in power, the US conservatives were making terrible decisions, but at least they had a coherent philosophy, they believed in democracy, and the conservative ideals were more or less shared by other conservatives around the world (Thatcher, Mulroney, etc.)
These days, the US right wing is an incoherent mess of conspiracy theories, religious extremism, and chaos. Conservatives want to ban or burn books, but they still claim to stand for freedom of expression and speech. They talk about passing laws banning non-heterosexuals from everything, while simultaneously wanting the government to get out of their lives.
And, with a nearly 9000 km shared border and massive social and economic ties between the two, whatever happens in the US will affect Canada. There’s no escaping that fact. Canadian democracy is almost irrelevant. If Trump comes to power again, there are no votes that Canadians can cast that will shield them from the chaos.
As a fellow terrist, what’s the problem with us? 🌎
All yer nucular power and *pauses for camera closeup* weapons of mass destruction.
*ducks to dodge a shoe*
I dunno, some people are just loony.
Dear United States,
I hope this email finds you well. I couldn’t help but notice some unsettling developments in your life recently, and as your upstairs neighbor and friend, I felt the need to reach out.
It’s been hard to ignore the noise from your past relationship with that abusive ex-boyfriend. You were so brave to leave him four years ago, especially after that terrifying January 6 incident. But now, I’ve heard whispers that you might be considering getting back together with him. Is that true?
I remember how hard it was for you, and for all of us who care about you, when he was around. His actions and the chaos he brought into your life were not only harmful to you but also affected those around you, including us upstairs. We thought we had lost the warm, friendly neighbor we knew.
Please think carefully about this decision. We all want what’s best for you, and it’s painful to see you possibly walking back into a situation that caused so much hurt and turmoil. If you need someone to talk to, I’m always here.
Take care and stay safe.
Sincerely,
Canada
well trump has shown to be a staunch enemy of democracy, the constitution and the rule of law
So do actual Americans.
Some. But not two-thirds, unfortunately.
So does the world
In case you’re here for the first time, reading this comment, and you blacked out from 2016-2020, Donald J. Trump is a fascist demagogue, who speaks directly to Russians about internal US affairs including classified info and has said that if re-elected, he will become a dictator. The GOP’s plan to dismantle the executive branch and replace staffers with Trump loyalists has been laid out and available for all to read, entitled “Project 2025”. His children admitted to meeting with Russian intelligence officials in Trump Tower to discuss undermining the 2016 election. He called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers, was best friends with the world’s most famous pedophile, mocked a disabled reporter in front of thousands of people (and on national TV), he lied that he would lower taxes on the working class and instead raised them, he illegally demanded clandestine investigations into the Biden’s as blackmail for military aid to Ukraine (hmmmm I wonder what Donald learned from Putin during their hangouts…), and he let millions of Americans die of COVID by repeating lies that contradicted the real science of the pandemic. The laundry list is massive. He’s not fit to be president of anything and he belongs in jail.
“This could be our last election” is something I’ve been hearing since Republicans were freaking out of Clinton in 1996. We do it literally every four years, depending on who is coming and going.
Trump’s deplorable were going to dominate the country after '16. Obama’s ACORN was going to take over the election system if he won in 2010. Bush was going to send all the Democrats to Gitmo back in 2006. The SCOTUS guaranteed a Democrat would never win again, after 2000.
His children admitted to meeting with Russian intelligence officials in Trump Tower to discuss undermining the 2016 election.
I am so tired of hearing how Russia stole the '16 election, when you had governors in Florida and Texas and New York and Ohio and Georgia and Arizona and Wisconsin and Colorado dumping people off the voter rolls as fast as they could find an excuse. If you want to talk about stolen elections, go look up Operation Eagle Eye) which guaranteed Arizona’s growing Hispanic community would be denied a seat at the table for decades thanks to future Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist.
Or ask what happened to Don Siegelman, the last Democrat to serve as governor in Alabama.
Or just look up the Brooks Brother’s Riot
Pinning this shit on The Evil Foreigner when we’re perfectly willing and capable of stealing elections right here at home is asinine.
Regardless of the outcome of the US elections, I hope this makes the Canadian government realize that it needs take a more independent stance from the US in terms of its policies. Because right now our politicians don’t even want to change the daylight savings time policy without US states agreeing to it at the same time.
DST changes make sense. Why would Canada switch to a different clock system than our largest trading partner and neighbour? All hell would break loose.
I understand where you are coming from but I don’t think it would be that bad. I mean if I recall correctly even within the US there are some areas that use daylight savings and some that don’t. And Canada switching would encentivize the US to switch.
This has been an ongoing issue/argument for years now and I think you’re giving more power to Canada than we have. America doesn’t listen to us on anything. In fact we don’t count, except to support the US in whatever it chooses to do. And when we don’t they often bring up the fact our military warhorse is a pittance of America’s and we should be spending billions on building it up instead of having universal healthcare and an active social safety net.
I agree. The US doesn’t listen to us and if they go all fascist we shouldn’t listen to them either. Regardless, we should endeavour to set an example for them to follow. Whether they follow it or not is up to them of course.
How so? We’re doing just fine in Saskatchewan.
You know why Saskatchewan doesn’t do DST? No one wants an extra hour in Saskatchewan. (Joke from my uncle in Saskatoon)
Honestly it’s a non issue because there are also US states that don’t follow DST so literally nothing would happen.
Damn the naysayers. Let’s dump Daylight Savings Time.
Ha! And technically, SK is always on DST. Solar noon is around 1pm rather than noon, so I get the gripes from those on DST.
Many don’t want to lose that sunlight outside working hours, so I think just keeping everyone on DST would be the best solution. Have timezones set so solar noon is closer to 1pm clock time.
Fair point. :D
I don’t like having morning sunlight pulled from me only to gain those sunlight hours in the evening when I don’t care for it. I really enjoy morning light much more so than evening light.
My dogs also hate it because they have no idea why I’m feeding them 1 hour later than usual.
True. Up here there’s not much sun in winter anyway, so shifting back wouldn’t really be of much benefit. Sunrise is 9:02 today. Sure, it could be 8:02, but sunset would then be at 16:14.
Wherever you live in Canada most of the US is in a different time zone than you anyway. Somehow companies have figured it out.
My grandfather drove a tank in WW2, a cousin of my grandmother went down on the HMS Hood. My family survived the blitz.
Now I’m sitting in Canada watching America gleefully become the new nazi fatherland and it’s terrifying. Watching your neighbour embrace fascism with open arms… words cannot describe the amount of disappointment I have right now.
The amount of MAGA dipshits we have in alberta is uncomfortably high
What happened in the US could very easily happen here too. We’re not as immune from the misinformation as we think.
Please take me as a refugee if/when this happens… I’ve got an engineering degree and I’m willing to learn French.
Canadians also worry that CANADIAN democracy cannot survive Trump’s return to the White House…
A fascist dictator annexing a relatively weak yet prosperous neighbor with a similar culture and shared history?
When has that ever happened?
Yeah there’s a good chance Trump will invade Canada eventually.
If you are going to leave the time is now. Not when you are in line behind tens of millions of refugees. As I said many times I plan to go down with the ship, but my wife has citizenship in another country and our kids can now legally be there. If/when it goes to hell send them out and I am staying.
Easier said than done. I earnestly looked into it around 2016 and it’s not easy to make it in as a citizen, especially if you don’t have a job offer. Having an engineering degree definitely helps, but I don’t know how much. I started doing Duolingo French because that also gives you some “points”.
It just wasn’t doable for me at the time.
Luckily you don’t have to speak French in 90% of the country.
You don’t have to, no, but if you’re trying to immigrate, there is a “points” system where you get points for various things. For example, there is a chart with a list of careers, with more valuable/desired fields equating to more points. You also get extra points for understanding, reading and/or speaking French. Higher score means more likely to be accepted.
So if one wanted to maximize their odds, learning French would help.
It’s not doing very well without him, definitely won’t survive with him. Tired of voting for slower erosion of democracy rather than having the option to vote for expansion of democracy. The US is not long for this world as a democracy. We’ll soon have Putin style “Democracy”.
Right here with them. It’s kind of scary how close we had come before, but it’s even scarier to think that there’s a good portion of Americans who are like, “Yes, we’ve had first Trump term, what about infinite Trump terms?”
Yeah so do like half of Americans myself included.
I’m guessing the 36% that didn’t see a problem with Trump were Conservatives who had to much lead paint in their diet as children.
Due to global hegemony if US democracy falls so does world democracy
I doubt everything would tumble like a house of cards, but it would have a severe destabilising effect on the rest of the world absolutely.
Suuure… if the US democracy fails, Sweden is going to become a dictatorship. Australia is going to revert to full-on monarchy. Japan’s going to go full Shogun.
Japan will go robot Shogun in space clearly. Probably invade Mad Maxville aka the country formerly known as Australia
I think that is a tad dramatic. The other democracies aren’t lambs surrounding by wolves.
