American Checkup caller says Canadians 'deserve better political representation' than Trudeau on trade

Each week, Cross Country Checkup features an interesting perspective from the program. Caller Ken Armstrong spoke to host Duncan McCue on the June 17, 2018 episode.

Ken Armstrong lives in Mississippi, but that doesn't make him a stranger to Canadian current affairs.

Armstrong is an entertainment tour driver. He carries sets from city to city across North America for major tours including Nitro Circus and singers Miranda Lambert and Sam Hunt.

He's been following the tariff dispute between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau closely.

Unlike many Canadians, Armstrong sided with the U.S. president when he criticized the prime minister last weekend for making disparaging remarks about Trump following last week's G7 summit.

Let the consumer decide instead of putting in these ridiculous, outrageous tariffs to protect a handful of inefficient and uncompetitive dairy producers in a select area of Canada.- Ken Armstrong

Armstrong, who called from North Carolina, told Cross Country Checkup host Duncan McCue on Sunday that Canadian consumers should have the freedom to to choose the origin of their products.

To him, Canada's "protectionist measures" extend beyond Trudeau's recently announced tariffs.

Here's part of Armstrong's conversation with McCue.

Paint us a picture about how this trade dispute with us here in Canada is playing out in North Carolina.

I was just up in Moncton, New Brunswick, last Saturday and I talked to a number of locals up there. They're concerned because they realize that Donald Trump perfectly described Prime Minister Trudeau as being very dishonest and weak, and, I think, two-faced.

I think that's spot on. I just really don't know why he would try to score political points by having that kind of a press conference and thinking that he could get away with it.

He just really did himself a great disservice for not just himself, but for the Canadian people. I mean Canadians — you good, Canadian folks — you expect and deserve better political representation than what you have right now.

And Americans, we're not dumb. We hear this stuff about the pipeline fiasco between British Columbia and Alberta. We hear about court cases where somebody tries to buy beer in one province and gets arrested in the province he lives in.

[Those are] all protectionist measures right within Canada. It just shows that Canada is not a place to be friendly for either businesses or for the people that live in the provinces.

I guess my main message here for Canadians is that they should have the right to decide what purchasing decisions they make, whether it's New Zealand dairy — they're a very good dairy provider — American products, or Canadian products.

Let the consumer decide instead of putting in these ridiculous, outrageous tariffs to protect a handful of inefficient and uncompetitive dairy producers in a select area of Canada.

You're not a fan of our prime minister. Did you vote for Donald Trump? And what do you think about the way he's tackling trade worldwide?

You're gonna laugh. I never voted for the guy because I didn't like him initially. And I liked Hillary Clinton even less, because she's so crooked. My wife voted for Hillary Clinton.

Since he's been president, in 18 months, he's just done a phenomenal job. He's got everybody's attention ... he's got my vote and my wife, a sworn Democrat, is going to vote for him as well.

He's got everybody's attention for sure. What do you what do you say when when people are calling him a bully?

He's not a bully, he just tells it like it is, and some people just have thin skin. They just don't like hearing what Trump has to say. Whether it's Democrats or social activists.

And you know what's happening down here with the media. Democrats are doing anything, everything, they possibly humanly can do to vilify and discredit and demonize him.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To hear the full interview with Ken Armstrong, click Listen above.