BY: BRIAN LILLEY
When he announced his candidacy for President of the United States, the public and the media at large dismissed him as a buffoon. Now, almost one year later, there is a very real possibility that Donald J. Trump – former host of The Apprentice – will win the Republican primary and, ultimately, the general election. And if that happens, so help me God, I am gathering my family, packing my things, and moving to the United States of America.
Under the guise of patriotism and a scorn for political correctness, Trump was able to advance his xenophobic and Islamophobic views and make them resonate with a significant portion of the Republican population. Most famously, he called for the ban of Muslims from entering the United States and for the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border to curb illegal immigration. This, then, begs the question: How can one passively remain in Canada and watch the Trudeau government not do any of those things?
Despite his resolve on certain issues, Trump has had a number of reversals on others. He has changed his position on the Iraq War, abortion and gun control, to name a few, from support to denunciation. The prospect of having this kind of open-mindedness and willingness to learn in a leader is exactly why I’ll write up my Green Card application and move away from this radical mess of a country if things go well in November.
Even Trump’s qualities as a businessman, his alleged forte, have been inconsistent. Alongside his lucrative hotel business, there was also the failed Trump Airlines, Trump Steaks and Trump University. With this degree of risk-taking, entrepreneurial breadth and prolificacy in a nation’s head-of-state, man oh man, am I excited to abandon my Etobicoke bungalow, hop on that Virgin America flight and settle into my beachside Miami villa.
It’s still not a certainty if Trump is going to clinch the presidency. For one, it is unclear if his Republican base corresponds to a significantly large percentage of the general population. But we have to prepare for any possibility; and because I cannot live in an environment where people with my views are regarded with suspicion, if Trump is elected, I will move down south to the Land of Opportunity, and I advise you to do the same.
