The smile begins to form on Joseph Redmon’s face, and there’s even a little chuckle, at the first mention of Canada becoming the 51st state.
“It’s a joke,” he says over and over.
“It would never happen. It cannot happen. It will not happen,” he says definitively, before he even hears the full question.
“He’s doing that just to get under people’s skin and to make them upset, that’s just sort of his mantra,” Redmon says. He’s aware that Canadians are largely opposed to annexation, and from a practical standpoint, he thinks it would hurt Republicans in the long run, given Canada’s relatively left-leaning politics.
Canadians should view it as a compliment, he says: “Every time you all hear that, you should just smile.”
The retired U.S. Army Major sat down with CBC News, along with five other Republican voters in rural Kentucky, for candid conversations about President Donald Trump’s return to power. The state voted for Trump in the last three elections, and in Meade County, where CBC News caught up with voters, Trump won with 75 per cent support.
Despite the rollout of his tariffs causing major backlash abroad — particularly in Canada, a repeated target of the U.S. president’s annexation threats — several Trump voters who spoke with CBC News said they still support him, or even outright dismissed his recent rhetoric as a joke or distraction tactic.
Joke? Threat? Or perhaps some international trolling? Republican voters in Brandenburg, Ky., say they’re not taking U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated comments about making Canada “the 51st state” seriously – and neither should Canadians.
‘It’s a distraction’
That includes Ginny Delano, 72, a retiree, who thinks Trump is trying to taunt Canadians.
“I just think it’s funny when there’s a lot of people with TDS, Trump derangement syndrome,” she says, referring to the derogatory term used to describe negative reactions to Trump that are seen as irrational.
“Their heads explode, and I think it’s funny when he says that kind of stuff and gets a rise out of them.”
Her husband, Gale Delano, 85, is more sympathetic to Canadian frustration.
“I can understand Canadians getting upset, because that’s their country,” he says.
“And you know, if it’s America, we’re going to fight for America, and Canadians are going to fight for their country.”
Some say Trump’s annexation talk isn’t serious.
U.S. President Donald Trump is imposing a 25 per cent tariff on vehicles not made in the U.S. Andrew Chang explains why this threat is different. Plus, is now the perfect time to buy a home in Canada?
“I think that it’s — again — it’s a distraction,” says Mark Burnett, chair of the Meade County Republican Party.
“If the people of Canada wanted to be a 51st state, I think that would be something we would all talk about. But of course it’s not like we’re going to — it’s not like the U.S. is going to invade Canada.
“You get that kind of rhetoric out of the media a lot of times. It’s like, we’re not going to do that.”
Bracing for tariffs
But on Trump’s tariff plan, many of the voters who spoke with CBC News believed that it will cause, at the very least, some short-term economic instability.
“It’s going to have an impact on employment and jobs, but sometimes to fix what’s really broken, you’ve got to put a little pain in it,” said John Clauer, another retiree who voted for Trump.
The on-again-off-again tariff agenda has already had a negative impact on the stock market, and has made the U.S. a target for retaliation. Canada has imposed tariffs on tens of billions of dollars in U.S. goods, while some provinces have pulled American products, including alcohol, from store shelves.
Clauer, who is deeply concerned about the U.S. deficit, supports Trump’s efforts to rein in spending. He views tariffs as another tool at Trump’s disposal.
“I just think that people in other countries need to recognize the position that we’re in. And understand that his tariffs are being used to try to rebuild the United States economy, and to bring the deficit under control.”
Several Trump supporters who spoke to CBC News share this worry.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed their first phone call as ‘very productive’ and ‘cordial,’ but while Trump refrained from referring to Canada as the 51st state, he did warn auto tariffs will kick in next week as planned.
“I think it’s … a starting point to say we need to do something different,” says Burnett, of the Meade County GOP.
“It’s a little scary, of course,” he admitted, but he says the measures are necessary.
“I think American businesses have gotten addicted to cheap labour abroad, and obviously that doesn’t have as much to do with Canada, but it’s still a mindset we have to deal with.”
Support for Trump remains intact
For these voters, Trump’s return to the White House, and his first two months in office are seen so far as a success.
“I think it’s a bright figure,” says Ginny Delano.
Her husband Gale Delano shares that sense of optimism about Trump.
“He’s going at break-neck speed right now. He’s doing everything he promised he would do; that’s hard to say about a politician.”
Doug Cornett, 81, a retired teacher and school administrator, isn’t quite sure what to think about Trump’s tariffs, but he’s willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt.
“Right now, it might be a little bit rough, but I think it will eventually smooth out and things will be great.”
And while Trump’s blunt, aggressive style is not necessarily something all of his voters like, it’s bearable.
“He does things his way. I’m glad I don’t work for him, but I support him in trying to heal the U.S. economy,” says Clauer, the retiree concerned with the deficit.
Joseph Redmon views Trump as the right leader for this moment.
“He is a disruptor.
“We hired him to do this, we need it, America is in trouble.”
