After White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Wednesday refused to discount the possibility that President Donald Trump might name Sarah Palin as the next ambassador to Canada, Twitter exploded with negative comments north of the border.
But first to complain were politicians. New Democrat Party member of Parliament Nathan Cullen told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation it would be difficult to take the former Alaska governor and onetime vice-presidential candidate seriously because she wouldn’t know the truth “if it jumped up and knocked her on the head.” He also compared her to “another Donald Trump.”
Another NDP member of Parliament, Charlie Angus, characterized such a choice as insulting, saying it shows “how little” Trump and Steve Bannon “think of Canada.”
Then the rest of Canada piled on their Alaska neighbor.
Speculation first arose last month after the resignation of ambassador Bruce Heyman, who was appointed by Barack Obama. It kicked up Wednesday when Spicer, pressed specifically on a Palin ambassador appointment at a White House news conference, did not count her out. “We have no additional ambassador nominations or announcements to make on that front,” he said. “I’m sure at some point we will have, soon.”
A headline in the Ottawa Citizen warned that Palin could “bring her carnival show here.” Twitter users’ #SarahPalin comments ranged from the hilarious to the horrified. Lots made fun of her notorious geographical mistakes (she boasted during the 2008 presidential campaign that you could “see Russia” from Alaska, as evidence of her global experience) and apparent general cluelessness about foreign affairs.
Others were mostly stunned. One asked Trump instead to simply bomb the country, and signed the tweet: “All intelligent life in Canada.”
A number of Americans apologized for the potential nomination, with one saying a Palin appointment was “no way to treat a friend.” One reminded Palin to “drive on the other side of the road.”