LTE: Be cautious of mainstream media

The much anticipated meeting between Justin Trudeau and the Leader of the Free World finally happened. U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed a Canadian delegation, led by the Prime Minister, to Washington last week for a series of meetings and to formally introduce himself. Reaction to the meeting differed depending on which side of the border you happened to find yourself on, and the sources you rely on for information. Nonetheless, the alt-left radical mainstream media portrayal of the encounter was not surprising.

Given Justin’s style over substance approach to governance, the story emerged in Canada that the PM was successful in avoiding an awkward and lengthy handshake with the President, as previously experienced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, of Japan last week- a ‘remarkable’ accomplishment.

One cannot simply trust everything they read or hear, however, especially from the mainstream media. Their disappointing performance during the 2016 Presidential Election sealed their fate as dishonest, political activists and the Canadian mainstream media is not immune from this criticism. Biased reporting and “fake news” have almost entirely ruined the reputation of an institution once held in the highest regard.

As a Conservative and strong supporter of President Trump, having had the privilege to meet him as a presidential candidate in Iowa and having recently attended his inauguration in Washington, I expected the Trudeau-Trump meeting to be more eventful than what took place. As a Canadian, I hoped for a strong Prime Ministerial performance on the world stage, this one in particular; after all, he was there to represent our entire country and all Canadians. A brief oval office photo op and press conference revealed an awkward Prime Minister in training and a President, who after only a month in the toughest and most demanding position in existence, seemed to have a commanding presence; appearing comfortable in his element and showing little interest in a future “bromance” with his Canadian counterpart.

Nevertheless, the seemingly popular alt-left radical mainstream media narrative has been to question the behaviour of then candidate and now President Trump: “Is that really presidential behavior?” I suppose that’s in the eye of the beholder. From a technical standpoint, Donald Trump is the President of the United States- anything he says and does is Presidential.

Unfortunately, several dishonest mainstream media narratives have led many Canadians to believe the election of Donald Trump and his presidency is akin to Armageddon. The political left, dominating Canadian cities from coast to coast, have orchestrated and participated in several large scale protests against the President since the inauguration. This constant chaos and the unprecedented protests of an American administration in Canada can be attributed to campaign rhetoric in part; but the fear mongering and misinformation can be credited exclusively to the alt-left radical mainstream media who consistently fan the flames.

As a young Canadian who has travelled to twenty six countries and witnessed the significant security challenges facing Europe firsthand; it is important that we examine and critique President Trump’s policy prescriptions through the lens of the times we live. For example: temporarily restricting the travel of foreign nationals from countries who have proved themselves to be uncooperative with the United States isn’t racist, xenophobic or any other “deplorable”. The seven countries included in this travel restriction have had close links to the facilitation and harbouring of terrorism and this executive order is smart national security policy. Rather than simply identifying these countries as problematic and assuming this national security risk, as did former President Barack Obama, President Trump prioritized the safety of the American people and acted.

Doing the right thing isn’t always the popular thing; obviously, this policy was falsely and maliciously perpetuated by the alt-left radical mainstream media as a “Muslim ban”, causing unnecessary outrage in Canada, the United States and around the world. Remember, 90% of Muslims worldwide were not affected by this executive order.

With respect to NAFTA, the TPP, NATO and securing the US-Mexico border, then candidate Trump consistently made the case that the United States had been party to bad deals for decades and that would change under a Trump Administration. Arguably, Donald Trump won the election on this premise. His actions since becoming President have merely followed his key campaign promises to keep America safe and create American jobs, stating clearly in his inaugural address: “From this day forward, we are going to be America first”. And why wouldn’t they be?

To those taking the alt-left radical mainstream media narratives seriously, I urge you to proceed with caution. It is clear that no lessons have been learned from their (and Hillary Clinton’s) historic defeat last year and they will stop at nothing to bring down President Trump.

North of the border, we should be hopeful that our Prime Minister will represent Canada on the world stage to the best of his limited ability. In the spirit of continuing to improve and advance the important US-Canada bilateral relationship, we should also be hopeful that when Kevin O’Leary takes office in 2019, President Trump isn’t too preoccupied with his re-election in 2020.

Colin Munro
South Glengarry