OTTAWA (Reuters) - 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.
Trump has vowed if elected again to punish his political enemies, and he has drawn criticism for using increasingly authoritarian language.
Three times as many Canadians say a Biden victory would be better for Canada’s economy (53%) than a Trump win (18%), according to the poll which was seen exclusively by Reuters. The poll, taken between Jan. 9-11, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points
Canada is not that much better off than the US politically (though to be sure they are better off). They too have a Trumpy conservative candidate who is projected to win in an election. Their left/center-left parties are fractured facing off a unified right. They also suffer from a non-representative electoral system (still mad at Trudeau for failing to keep his promise there). And one big factor in how this is possible is that they can look down at the US and say “at least we’re not THAT bad” when things get worse for them.
So yeah, I do think they would benefit from spending some more time looking at their own problems.
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Yes, it is worse here, as I admitted. Even factoring in hyperbole, though, this is not a papercut vs. missing limbs situation. It didn’t pan out, but the Convoi de la liberté could have escalated to something similar if they weren’t so incompetent.
I get that Canadians can focus on both. I do think Canadians should criticize the US, same as I think USians should. It’s also understandable to worry about what’s going on here, as we are very close by and have huge influence over world events.
But, Canadians do use how bad the US is as an excuse to ignore their own problems. I have seen it. And yes, lots of Canadians don’t! But the Canadians I know who understand things are bad tend to acknowledge this as a part of the problem.