‘I find that personally offensive’: A Fox News host melts down over Canada not wanting to join the United States
The line between satire and reality has grown so thin I genuinely don’t know where this video falls. While interviewing the Canadian Premier, Doug Ford, Fox News host Jesse Watters, states he is personally offended that Canadians don’t want to be taken over by the U.S.
Acquisitions and takeovers seem to be the theme of Trump’s new American foreign policy. Trump has yet to even take positions as president, and yet he has already set his sights on owning Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal. The response from all the leaders of those countries? A resounding “No.”
In an interview with Canadian Premier, Dough Ford, and Fox News host – and 1920s puppet lookalike complete with strings for Trump to pull – Watters, discussed Trump wanting to acquire Canada. Watters began the “civil” conversation by asking Ford, “What’s your problem with the United States absorbing Canada?” Ford went on to acknowledge that Trump is a real estate tycoon, but clearly stated: “that property is not for sale.”
In the above clip posted to X by Republicans against Trump, Watters appeared to take offense to this. “You say that Americans don’t have a problem with Canadians, and we don’t, but it would seem you have a problem with us. Because I would consider it a privilege to be taken over by the United States of America.” Referring to the mass incoming immigration that the country has faced, Watters adds, “That’s what everybody else in the world wants, American citizenship.”
Watters goes on to say, “For some reason, that’s repellent to you Canadians, and I find that personally offensive Premier.” Towards the end of this, you can see Watters and the Premier begin to crack a smile. We can guess that there is an element of hyperbole and joking here. However, further into the interview, Watters continues to push the point, telling Ford “Can you think of this more as a merger, instead of an acquisition? Don’t think about being taken over, think about this as coming together.”
Trump’s foreign policy is already doing damage
This type of rhetoric has become more prominent in the lead-up to Trump’s inauguration. The idea of the United States expanding its territory by “acquiring” the land of other nations. In the case of Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal, they are all areas either rich in natural resources or are key shipping lanes. Of course, citizens of these countries, alongside their leaders, have made it clear that their nations are not for sale.
Regardless of the likelihood of whether Trump can “buy” these countries, his rhetoric has had real-world consequences. Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, resigned yesterday after coming under growing pressure from his own party. While his popularity rates have been declining for some time, many point to Trump’s threat of increasing tariffs on Canadian goods as a core issue.
Trudeau’s deputy prime minister and former ally Chrystia Freeland resigned abruptly in December. She cited that Trudeau was not doing enough to face the “grave challenge” proposed by Trump. Canada has announced they will implement new measures along the border in response to Trump’s threats. In a post online, Trump appeared to mock Trudeau and the country, writing
“If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them,”
Trudeau responded,
Trump is falling into a thought trap that others in American history have also fallen into, that Canadians would welcome American influence. That has not been and is not correct, especially a United States with Trump in charge. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, Canadians’ opinion of the States was never lower than when Trump was in charge during his last presidency. Canadians are more likely to lean on the left side of the political spectrum than Americans. If Trump did end up annexing the country, he’d have added millions of anti-Trump voters to the States.
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