US ambassador suggests Canada could be blamed if Republicans lose midterm races
US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra suggested that Canada could be blamed if Republicans perform poorly in next week’s midterm elections, The Guardian reported. US midterms are held halfway through a president’s four-year term and decide which party controls Congress, the national legislature.
According to CTV News, Hoekstra made the remarks at a private business lunch at his official residence in Ottawa on Tuesday. The lunch was organised by the Canadian American Business Council. CTV reported that he told attendees that if swing races, meaning contests that could go either way, including those in Maine and Michigan, were won by Democrats, President Donald Trump might try to blame the loss on Canada.
The council’s chief executive, Beth Burke, said the lunch was meant to be off the record. She said Hoekstra spoke positively about the relationship between the two countries and hopes a deal will be reached. CTV cited three people with knowledge of the discussions who were not named, because they were not authorised to disclose details of the closed-door meeting.
A U.S. embassy spokesperson said the reported comments were “grossly taken out of context from a broader discussion.”
As of Tuesday, the Cook Political Report, an election forecaster, rated the U.S. House of Representatives as leaning Democratic and the Senate as a toss-up. Tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods, are part of the picture in the races CTV cited. Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan is campaigning against them. On Friday, Trump reversed some tariffs affecting Maine ahead of Sen. Susan Collins’ re-election bid.
The remarks follow an exchange over Canadian involvement in the campaign. Earlier in October, Hoekstra warned Canadian politicians to keep their “nose out” of American politics. On October 21, the U.S. Embassy accused Canadian politicians of interfering in American elections. On October 23, Politico reported that Hoekstra said the United States had not determined whether Canadian officials had interfered in the midterms.
