US ambassador to Canada on midterm elections, Trump and truckers

Ottawa –

Ahead of the upcoming midterm elections in the United States, U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, called on CTV question time to discuss the state of democracy in Canada and the U.S. and what he’s watching Tuesday. I sat down.

Cohen also delved into the possibility of former President Donald Trump running for re-election, as well as his thoughts on trucker protests and the Canadian government’s use of the emergency law.

This transcript of Cohen’s interview with Joyce Napier on Sunday’s episode of CTV’s Question Time has been edited for length and clarity.

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Joyce Napier: Joe Biden has repeatedly said that democracy is under threat, with midterm elections now. are you scared

Ambassador Cohen: I am an eternal optimist. i’m not afraid. So, I believe in the enduring nature of our democracy, and frankly, so does Canadian democracy. That does not mean democracy is not under threat. It is not without its difficult times. Not everything is smooth and hunky dolly. I believe democracy is under threat. But I think democracy will win in the end. I think it has always prevailed and will prevail again.

Napier: Do you think you can win this time? Or will the voices you hear more and more in the US carry on?

Ambassador Cohen: This turns out to be a bit of a complicated question. What does “acquisition” mean? No matter what happens in this midterm election, remember, we don’t have a Congress-style government. Control the White House, control the executive branch of government.Will MAGA-style Republicans win seats in Congress? But the strength of our system of government, the strength of our democracy, is that no election will destroy our democracy. I used to do a lot of political work. As the current U.S. Ambassador to Canada, I don’t want to be a political prophet. But what I can say is that there is a historical trend for the president’s party to lose many seats in Congress in this first midterm election. There have been 22 midterm elections since 1934, and the president’s party has lost seats in his 19 of his 22 elections. But one more thing is that there is no connection between what happens in the midterm elections and what happens in the re-election of the president. Think about President Obama. Think of President Clinton. Both lost his 60 or his 70 seats in Congress in the first midterm elections and won re-election two years later. That’s the pattern, and that’s one of the reasons I’m not interested. I don’t think Canadians should worry about any particular outcome of any particular election in the United States.

Napier: Are you worried that some of the candidates running for the Republican Party are denying the 2020 election?

Ambassador Cohen: Well, it’s not that they’re election deniers that’s a threat, it’s the possibility of what they might try to do as a result of their beliefs about what happened in the last election. And I think what the president is concerned about is that these individuals could try to change the election rules, ultimately limiting access to ballots and ending free elections.

Napier: But Ambassador, some of these states are already doing that. Isn’t that a matter of concern?

Ambassador Cohen: I am concerned about activities that may limit people’s voting rights. I think that’s the hallmark of our democracy. And that’s one of the reasons why the president condemned House Speaker Pelosi’s violence against her husband. Because violence does not exist at all in democratic systems. And our elected officials are the families of our elected officials and should not be threatened with violence simply because of their relationship with them. By the way, I don’t think there is any real evidence that people aren’t voting because of what happened to Speaker Pelosi’s husband. There is an element of it, but there is no evidence yet that it is happening. And I think it’s one of the better protection mechanisms. They are voting and exercising their right to vote. That is the basic feature of democracy.

Napier: I want to talk to you about Donald Trump in Iowa last week. He told the cheering crowd. Be prepared, that’s all I’m telling you. Do you expect him to run again?

Ambassador Cohen: You’re trying to make me a political commentator, that’s your job, but I resist it. To be honest, I don’t think much about what Donald Trump is going to do. I don’t think it’s good for the country. I think he has a very divisive power in politics. But I’m not really panicked by the idea that he might run again. I don’t think he will win. I think the country is sick and tired of Donald Trump enough that I don’t think he will end up with a majority vote. He said he would run again. I like the chance for Joe Biden to face Donald Trump in the second round.

Napier: As you are aware, we are investigating the Prime Minister’s activation of the State of Emergency Act. We hear testimony that some of these people wanted to overthrow the government.There was such a push in the United States. Worried about it?

Ambassador Cohen: The problem of radical right-wing populist movements that dislike large institutions, including governments, is not just a US problem, nor a Canadian problem. Most democracies in the world are experiencing the same type of movement. do i like it No, I don’t. I don’t think it’s healthy. I don’t think it’s productive. But the test is not whether those movements exist. The tests should be whether they succeed. They are not successful in the US. They are not successful in Canada. I have never seen a government overthrown. I have never seen a local government overthrown, and I have never seen a state or state government overthrown. They may have succeeded in making noise, but they have not succeeded in overthrowing the government. Because of the underlying strength of democracy.

Napier: So Tuesday is an important day in your country. What do you focus on?

Ambassador Cohen: I probably don’t value Tuesday as an election day more than many people in Canada. Again, there is a decades-long trend for the president’s party to lose many seats in Congress. I don’t know what will happen on Election Day, but I wouldn’t panic if the Democrats lost their seats in Congress—as they have in 19 of the last 22 midterm elections. I’m interested in some elections because they will likely indicate whether the Senate is Democrat or Republican.I’m interested in Nevada, but this is a very intense Senate election. In any close race, he thinks four or he thinks five of them could determine control of the Senate.

Napier: There are a lot of people here in Canada who are very interested…

Ambassador Cohen: I have to say this: I speak to many people in Canada. There is a vast amount of knowledge and concern about what is happening. When talking to friends at home, don’t get me wrong, nobody is talking about Canadian politics. During his 10 months in Canada, the event that got the most attention from his friends back home was the trucker’s convoy.

Napier: Why is that?

Ambassador Cohen: Well, I think you got a lot of media in America. Frankly, I think most of the US media stems from a major disruption in commerce. We talked about shutting down $300 million a day and doing trade across borders. It got some real attention to it.

Napier: Did that particular issue concern you?

Ambassador Cohen: It worried me because of the impact on commerce. I am a strong believer in the First Amendment, the right to express yourself. I am a trained attorney. You can’t get out of your law school training, but when you study the First Amendment in law school, you’ll learn that yelling “fired” is not a First Amendment right. ” in a crowded theater. Shouting “fire” in a crowded theater can cause people to flee and injure themselves, and First Amendment rights balance the public safety rights of everyone else in the theater. because it must be taken. That is why I am a fervent defender of the First Amendment rights of truck drivers and those in their convoys. I am not passionately defending the rights of truck drivers who block $300 million a day of trade and threaten their jobs and livelihoods. Thousands of Canadian and American citizens working in car factories on both sides of the border are balancing out. So I’m totally for their right to demonstrate, their right to protest, but at the end of the day, I’m not totally for them closing the busiest border crossing between Canada and the US. Hmm. I don’t want to get involved in this, but I believe the prime minister’s motivation for invoking the emergency law was to ensure that powers exist and that coordination exists to ultimately end the lockdown. increase. Open Ambassador Bridge and other border crossings to return to trade. Note that no one is saying that demonstrations, protests, carrying signs and voicing your right to freedom of expression cannot continue when the lockdown is lifted. It’s just exercising your right not to block commerce.

Napier: So the Emergency Act is a good idea?

Ambassador Cohen: I’m not sure I know enough about all the intricacies of it. That’s what I did. And the Emergency Act seems to have been part of that calculation, and so I think its invocation had a desirable purpose.

Napier: Interesting. David Cohen, thank you for coming here and taking the time to speak with us.

Ambassador Cohen: Thank you for inviting me. Regardless of the outcome of the election, American democracy will remain vibrant and vibrant, and the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Canada will survive, benefiting millions of Canadians and Americans. side of the border.

Napier: Speak like a true diplomat. Thank you very much.

Ambassador Cohen: Thank you very much.