US President Joe Biden’s incoherent and at times disjointed performance during Thursday’s debate has reportedly caused panic among Democratic Party insiders as it threatens to weaken Donald Trump’s commanding lead and potentially lead to a Republican victory in November’s election.
Canadian observers are also wondering what Trump’s reelection would mean for Canada and how Canadian political leaders would deal with the sometimes-mercurial former president if he wins again.
Polls suggest Trump is already leading Biden. This comes ahead of Thursday’s debates in six battleground states that are expected to determine the outcome of the presidential election: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Some voters are simply ignoring Trump’s conviction and its connection to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Just as dissatisfaction with the status quo drove voters in Toronto-St. Paul, a longtime Liberal stronghold, to support the Conservatives, some Americans are turning their backs on Biden as the country faces rising inflation and home prices.
The continuing influx of migrants at the southern border has also been a sore point for some U.S. voters.
Biden’s performance in Thursday’s debate did not silence critics who argue he is too old and infirm to lead the most powerful country on Earth.
US President Joe Biden’s poor performance in the debates has led Democratic pundits and columnists to call for the candidate to resign. For those who fear a second term for Donald Trump, Biden’s performance was a distraction from the former president’s lies and flaws. Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/1.7249398
A second term for President Trump could have huge implications for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his own political future.
Trudeau has positioned himself as a defender of the rules-based international order – a contrast to Trump’s isolationist “America First” policy and his disdain for multilateral institutions like NATO.
In a speech to Congress in 2016, former U.S. President Barack Obama famously praised Trudeau as a leader who would carry the Liberal flag at a time when anti-democratic forces were supposedly on the rise.
There is hope among Trudeau’s allies that Trump’s chaos might turn Canadians against Conservative Leader Pierre Poirievre, whose support for populist politics has led the Liberal party to repeatedly try to promote him as a Trump-like figure.
Some Liberals believe that if Canadians rebel against another Trump victory, they could choose Trudeau in the 2025 federal election as someone who can steer the country through uncertain times.
Dan Arnold, a former Prime Minister’s Office staffer who led the Trudeau Liberal party’s research program during its election victories in 2015, 2019 and 2021, said Trump’s reelection would dominate headlines and could reverse Canadians’ current appetite for change.
“I think you can make the argument that if the world is moving in a very scary direction, a very populist, very right-wing direction, Canada doesn’t want to move in that direction either,” he said in an interview.
“And maybe we need a bit of a counterweight in Canada to what’s going on in the U.S. So I think if Trump gets elected, there’s a chance Canadians will think about that.”
But Arnold said a Trump presidency could be a double-edged sword.
“There’s a threat there. People might think, ‘Hey, Poirierbre and Trump are going to get along a lot better than Trudeau and Trump,’ and Trump doesn’t seem to like Trudeau that much, so that might not be good for the Liberal party,” he said.
in fact, A new poll released Friday by Abacus Data This suggests that Canadians believe Poirierbre is better suited than Trudeau to deal with a second Trump term.
Some 44% of Canadians surveyed by Abacus believe Poirievre is better suited to deal with Trump, while 30% chose Trudeau.
“Perhaps the most concerning aspect of this poll is how Mr. Poiriervre stacks up against Mr. Trudeau on key policy areas, with Mr. Poiriervre holding significant leads on cost of living, housing costs and management of the economy. Mr. Poiriervre also holds a 14-point lead on who Canadians think would best deal with a potential Trump presidency,” Abacus Data CEO David Collett said in a media statement.
Collette, in an interview with CBC News, said it will be hard for Trudeau to bounce back from the Liberal Party’s brutal defeat in the Toronto-St. Paul by-election, a seat the party has held for more than 30 years.
He said the desire for change is strong and Canadians are opposed to Trudeau.
But he also said “external events” could “force voters to assess Mr. Trudeau differently.”
“I think the pandemic, for example, had that effect on a lot of political leaders. It was a crisis that forced us to look at our leaders differently. And maybe the election of Trump was one of those things,” he said.
“I think liberals, as strange as it may sound, have high hopes for Trump. I don’t think they want him to win, but politically, it may be the only way.”
Trump and Trudeau have a strained relationship.
Trudeau’s government successfully renegotiated NAFTA, saving Canada’s most important trade agreement from collapse, but collecting signatures was an uphill battle.
Trump called Trudeau “two-faced” after he was heard on microphone mocking a lengthy press conference after a NATO meeting.
After Trudeau said Canada would not be pushed around by President Trump and would vigorously defend the country’s interests in the face of U.S. tariffs, Trump took to social media to slam the prime minister as “very dishonest and weak” and rejected the leaders’ statement following the G7 summit in Charlevoix, Quebec.
In his book, John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, claims that Trump disliked Trudeau and had instructed his aides to attack him on US Sunday morning political shows.
Trump, who later lost the presidential election, aligned himself with anti-mandate protesters who organized a convoy of trucks that blocked much of downtown Ottawa.
“The convoy of freedom, Far-left madman “I blame Justin Trudeau for destroying Canada with his insane COVID-19 response,” Trump said.
Trudeau has been more diplomatic in his criticism of Trump but has signaled he is no fan of the former president.
Trudeau told reporters in January that Trump “embodies a degree of unpredictability.”
Facing the possibility of Trump’s reelection, Trudeau said International Trade Minister Mary Ng and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne would work with industry groups and civil society organizations to develop a plan for cross-border relations.
Trump would threaten coordinated North American climate action and a federal industrial policy that heavily subsidizes the assembly of electric vehicles (EVs) – a policy that essentially mirrors Biden’s Fight Inflation Act.
US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump held a debate in Atlanta that was broadcast on CNN. Here are some key moments from the debate, including when Trump exploited Biden’s verbal stumbles and accused the current president of having “the morality of a wild cat” regarding his predecessor’s criminal and civil law cases.
President Trump, a staunch supporter of the oil and gas industries, may try to revive the Keystone XL pipeline or something similar, which could be a positive development for Alberta and Canadian natural resource exports but a setback for environmentalists on both sides of the border.
Trump’s aversion to free trade and his full embrace of Buy American policies (which Biden himself supports) are also a concern for Canada.
“The Canada-U.S. relationship is vital to the prosperity and well-being of Canadians, and we know this is a critical election year for the United States,” Trudeau said at a recent cabinet meeting.
“We know there are always challenges in American elections.”
