Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently toured a library that straddled the United States-Canada border, and one remark she made repeatedly is angering both Americans and Canadians.
The Boston Globe reported that Noem made the remark during an appearance at the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Stanstead, Quebec and Derby Line, Vermont. The library has both American and Canadian flags and a line of black electrical tape on the floor that marks the international border for visitors.
During her visit, the Globe reported that Noem stood on the American side of the library and said "USA number one," before stepping to the Canadian side and saying: "The 51st state." This echoes President Donald Trump's rhetoric, in which he has repeatedly referred to Canada as the "51st state" and outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "governor."
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“She did it at least three times and was very clear in saying, ‘USA No. 1,’ and didn’t even say ‘Canada.’ Just, ‘The 51st state,'" said Deborah Bishop, who is the library's executive director.
Noem's comments garnered outrage on social media. University of Ottawa professor Roland Paris called it "insulting, shameful and professional. But most of all... childish." Reason editor-at-large Matt Welch lamented: "We are governed by four year-olds." Former Obama administration appointee Bart Acocella characterized it as "utterly deranged behavior." And Doug Saunders, who is an international affairs columnist for the Canadian publication Globe and Mail, grimly made a comparison to the Ukraine war, tweeting: "This is not too far from how it started in Donetsk."
"This is juvenile behavior unbecoming of someone with even a tiny bit of responsibility," tweeted Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, who is a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council.
Weeks before Trump was sworn into his second term, Trudeau made it clear that Canada would remain an independent and sovereign nation despite Trump's remarks about Canada being added as another state. The 10-year prime minister said there wasn't a "snowball's chance in hell" Canada would ever join the United States.
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