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
Trump has always been the tip of the spear. But the sheer volume of fascists in the country mean he’s bound to be replaced as soon as his age and bad health catch up with him. He’ll become another party icon, like Reagan and Eisenhower, whose legacy will be ironed over and policies normalized until his face ends up on the $20 bill.
Liberals and Neo-cons alike keep telling themselves that Trump is something you can just make go away from the top - by a prosecution or an electoral defeat or a coronary. But the fascism he represents is echoed through a thousand YouTube Recommended Vidoes, AM Radio Channels, Church pulpits, and Country Club smoking halls around the nation.
His ghost is going to haunt this country for another generation.