The Danger of South Park as Political Reality
As Donald Trump increases his threat to Canada's economic security, his officials are ramping up their attacks.
Just over a week ago, Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem held a roundtable in Detroit to sound the alarm about the so-called “threat" from the northern border.
The northern border. That’s us.
Canada.
Here is the press conference I held in response.
Noem presented a lurid presentation of rape and murder of El Salvadorean gangs coming over the Canadian border to threaten the American people. She was joined by Michigan Representative John James, who claimed that Michigan is "at the epicentre of the northern border crisis."
And to reassure the MAGA faithful who ate this up, one of her officials stated:
"We are here to kick some ass."
Really Kristi, whose ass do you think you're going to kick?
Canada's?
FBI Director Kash Patel has claimed the need for law enforcement to target the Canadian border. He says Canada is a staging ground for an international cabal of Russian, Iranian, and Chinese gangs and operatives.
Patel claims that 300 terrorists crossed the border into the United States, and 85 percent came from Canada. Were they wearing toques and lumberjack jackets?
And then there’s Ted Cruz. He says that Canada's decision to allow a small number of refugees from the genocide in Gaza is making Canada a pathway for Hamas terrorism.
Data from the United States Customs and Border Protection Agency show that Canada accounts for only 0.5% of the nearly 3 million illegal crossings at U.S. border points. But Noem wasn't in Michigan to argue facts or numbers that can be verified.
She was building a narrative.
In the world of Donald Trump, Canada and the Canadian people are the enemy.
This is what happens when the rule of law is turned over to grifters and ideologues. This is how the narrative is built on the MAGA right.
We have seen this right-wing playbook before. It’s not just gaslighting, it’s about creating a convenient enemy — an existential menace that must be dealt with.
South Park: The Movie was funny but South Park: The Administration is no joke.
What next? Will Kristi Noem or Kash Patel claim that they have found proof of underground bunkers full of weapons of mass destruction in Oakville or Charlestown?
Canadian officials need to stop pretending that we are negotiating with an ally. We are on the border of a nation quickly disintegrating into authoritarian gangsterism.
We’ve now learned that Canadian-American Johnny Noviello, who had lived in the United States since he was 11 years old, was picked up for deportation after serving community service (with time off for good behaviour) for a drug charge. Days later he was found dead in an ICE cell.
Will Canadian officials get the full story?
I doubt it.
Since November, Donald Trump has launched well over 100 attacks on Canada.
Throughout this time, Trump has been setting the stage to demonize and threaten our nation. In February, he even declared a national emergency on the Canadian border.
This is how Trump is setting the stage while telling Canada we have 30 days to sign a deal. One where we will pay billions in tariffs or where we can simply agree to give up our national sovereignty and join the gangster state to the south of us.
But I want to reassure Kristi Noem and Kash Patel, Michigan Rep John James and Ted Cruz, MAGA Ambassador Pete Hoekstra and any Fox News host who wants to weigh in on the threat posed by Canada:
Canadians take the security of the border very seriously.
In fact, we take it so seriously that our citizens refuse to and will continue to refuse to cross this border because we are no longer neighbours with a nation where it has become possible to arrest judges in courts and kidnap people off the streets.
We will boycott everything American – your booze, your produce, your tourist destinations – as long as you are under an administration that denies our fundamental right to sovereignty while demonizing our nation as some kind of terrorist gang haven.
Patel, Noem, James, Cruz, and Trump are people who live by the lies, the smear and intimidation. But you will not intimidate Canadians.
Our refusal to cross the border isn't about fear. It is because we will not stoop to spend a single dime in a country where decency and the rule of law count for nothing.
So, what is the impact of the Canadian boycott?
There has been a 93% drop in wine sales from the United States to Canada. The biggest American export market. This year alone, the U.S. economy is expected to lose $12.5 billion in tourism revenue.
Forbes Magazine reports that the travel boycott is gaining momentum. They point to the increased losses in May compared to April, "cementing a massive economic loss for American tourism this year as visitors from all over the globe rethink travel to the States."
Of the ten states hit hardest by the boycott, Florida tops the list.
Governor DeSantis might think that picking on trans kids and threatening people who do not support MAGA is good for politics. Well, the bottom line is that it is devastating for your tourism.
No, Ron DeSantis, we will not vacation in a state where your officials threaten to shoot citizens graveyard dead if they dare protest in the streets. They may be your MAGA values. But Canadians find them sickening and intolerable.
Michigan cities have suffered massive losses. And yet we have Representative James from Michigan portraying our nation and our people as a threat. Mr. James, we are done hanging out at your tourism sites.
We have had many U.S. representatives who are trying to build a charm offensive to invite Canadian tourists to return.
Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota recently visited Canada and said,
"Give us another chance."
Has he said anything to his fellow Republican Kristi Noem, who is stoking fears over border threats in Dakota?
Senator Tim Kaine came to Ottawa to say,
"Canada, we love you."
Great. Will he step up and guarantee the safety of people so that their phones aren't seized and searched? Will he denounce the arbitrary abuses of law against citizens?
Governor Maura Healey, when meeting with our premiers said,
"Canada is Massachusetts' No. 1 trading partner."
Yes, we are.
And for the folks in Burlington, Vermont, who have renamed one of their streets Canada Street, thanks, but no thanks.
If you love Canada, then you will love us for more than our dollars. You’ll love us for our values: diversity, equity and inclusion. A nation under the rule of law.
If you love us, you would speak to those values and against the demonization of our country. But we aren't hearing that.
So how about you spend less time trying to sucker us with a charm offensive and put a little more effort into restoring the rule of law and decency in your own nation.
Kristi Noem, if you were hoping to make sure that the northern border was empty of traffic, you've done a helluva job. Canadians won't spend a dime to support your nation's businesses and communities.
You could have reached out to our leaders, law enforcement, and border communities to discuss, as neighbours, how to make everyone safer. But you don't know the first thing about being a good neighbour.
And MAGA America are not good neighbours.
There are many good American people who are friends, relatives and allies, but we will not cross the border at this time. Not until the rule of law returns.
If Kristi Noem is standing in Detroit talking about the border, Windsor is south of Detroit not north. Check a map. That's her 1st issue.
I could not have said this better! THANK YOU CHARLIE!