Watching the ever-churning and revolving dumpster fire that is the election campaign of former US President Donald Trump, it is difficult to not question if we are watching reality, or a parody of the campaign in an extended episode of Saturday Night Live.
Just over two weeks have passed since the debate between Trump, and Vice President Kamala Harris – a debate that was just as horrifying to watch as it was funny.
“They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. This is a shame,” Trump said of Haitian migrants who live in Springfield, Ohio. His words echoed those of his vice presidential running mate J.D. Vance and his perpetration of rumours and gossip from the alt-right.
Respectable journalism organizations include debate host, ABC, along with NPR, local and regional newspapers, have all debunked the claims by Trump and Vance. Countless residents, Springfield government officials, and members of the Haitian community in that city have all been on the news saying Trump and Vance’s claims are false.
In an interview the weekend after the debate, Vance defended Trump’s comments and the false claims saying, “If I have to create stories then that’s what I’m going to do.”
To put this in other words, if Vance, or by extension Trump, need to lie to get eyeballs on them – that’s okay. Yes, if elected – these two will be in charge of the executive branch of the US government. They will weld incredible power. And they will have their fingers on the Nuclear Weapon trigger.
Anyone who watched the debate will have seen the demonstration of incredible restraint by Harris when Trump went off on any one of his many tangents. That restraint was almost presidential-looking. Does it mean that Harris will win on November 5? It’s still a coin toss.
It is amazing how many people can still consider this – person – as a credible option for the US Presidency. Frankly it’s baffling. This is a person who is the political version of US radio shock-jock Howard Stern, when he was in his hey-day.
Trump has been found civilly responsible for sexual assault, guilty of falsifying business records relating to paying off an adult movie star, and guilty in a civil fraud trial that prevents him from operating New York-based businesses.
This is a person who has said it is okay to grab women by their genitals, and still refuses to acknowledge or accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election. And STILL some Americans, and even some Canadians, support this – person and his cabal of hucksters like Vance.
If Trump and Vance will say anything to attain or reacquire power, what do people think will happen if they succeed? What is reality to them? Fact and fiction get to co-exist.
Why this matters is the age-old Canadian reality – if the US sneezes, Canada gets a cold. Trump’s impact on Canada is immense, and a reminder that you don’t get to pick your neighbours.
We have been seeing the effects of Trump and his party on Canadian politics. Some politicians, mainly on the right side of the political spectrum, openly lie and shout down media who call them out for it. Those politicians try to discredit media as being shills for the Prime Minister. They use jingoistic phrases to harken back to when things were “better”, playing on people’s insecurities and pitting different groups against each other, rather than trying to erase the us-and-them divide.
There is a direct correlation between the devolution of American politics, and that in Canada. Frankly, it is sad to comment on this.
The problem with parody elections, like what we are seeing this season in the US, is that even if Harris does win, Trump and his cronies will not believe it. They will continue their lies and convince their followers that the parody reality is truth.
And here in Canada, looking at the American example, there is a real risk we are going to catch the same cold of lies, rhetoric, and go down the same road of parody elections. This is no joking matter to watch.
This column was originally published in the September 25 print edition of the Morrisburg Leader.
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