Canadian Green Party leader Elizabeth May said on Tuesday that President-elect Trump’s “joke” about Canada being the 51st state of America is “not funny.”
Trump took to social media to mock Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referring to him as the “governor” of the “Great State of Canada.”
“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday. “I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all! DJT.”
The president-elect made a similar jab at the close U.S. ally late last month, suggesting Canada become the 51st state. Last week, Trump further dug into the joke, posting an artificial intelligence-generated photo of himself standing on a mountain with a Canadian flag next to him.
When asked on Tuesday about Trump’s post referring to Trudeau as the “governor,” May said she had not seen it but expressed concern about Trump’s similar post.
“I haven't seen that ... so I probably shouldn’t comment,” May said.
“I’ll just say that with the Truth Social post of Donald Trump planting a Canadian flag on a Canadian mountain — I have to say that to the extent that this 51st state thing was a joke, it's not funny, and I find that pursuing it on social media makes me increasingly nervous,” she continued.
May encouraged unity across party lines in Canada to protect the country’s reputation on the world stage.
“We have to be very, very careful with the president-elect, and we have to pull together, I think, all opposition party leaders and premiers, all elements of the Canadian political establishment, such as we are, better pull together to make sure we don't create any cracks that allow Fox News or Mr. Trump's social media to exploit us and say things about Canada that aren't true,” May said.
