There’s a term in psychology for people who accuse others of doing what they themselves are guilty of: projection.
asserted
they → ’ → projection
A chronic liar thinks everyone else lies too.
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everyone → think → ?
A cheater assumes others must cheat.
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others → assume → ?
So pointing a finger comes naturally.
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pointing → point → finger
Plus it’s a great way to turn the tables and deflect attention from your own sins.
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it → ’ → sins
That’s one way to interpret the latest outburst from Pete Hoekstra, Donald Trump’s extremely annoying ambassador to Canada.
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That → ’ → Canada
Hoekstra says Canada may be engaged in “election interference” in his country’s midterm elections and says ominously that the Trump administration “will respond” if it concludes this country really is meddling.
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country → say → elections
Washington is watching
In the meantime, he says, Washington is “closely watching Canadian activities.”
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Washington → watch → activities
This is rich, coming from the representative of a president who’s made questioning Canada’s very existence (“51st state!”) into a cheap applause line at his campaign rallies.
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who → come → rallies
Whose own treasury secretary pumps oxygen into the Alberta separatist movement, and whose diplomats listen respectfully while those same separatists offer up Canada’s resources in return for support from Washington.
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separatists → pump → Washington
Classic projection: we’re meddling in your internal affairs (as we’ve done everywhere from Argentina to Hungary, not to mention Venezuela) so naturally we think you’re meddling in ours.
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you → meddle → ours
Another way to think about Hoekstra’s blast is that Trump & Co. need a scapegoat, or several, to explain away what looks like the pasting Republicans will get in those midterms.
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Republicans → think → midterms
How convenient to point to outsiders — Canada! Ukraine! — to account for any losses Republicans suffer on Nov. 3.
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Republicans → point → Nov.
In that sense the ambassador is preparing the ground for a future election-loss excuse as another Trump mouthpiece, trade adviser Peter Navarro, did a couple of weeks ago.
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mouthpiece → prepare → weeks
Navarro told Canadian lobbyists to “get the hell out of our country” and warned they might be trying to interfere in elections in Maine and Michigan, where, no coincidence, Republicans are in trouble.
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Republicans → tell → trouble
Both those explanations make sense.
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explanations → make → sense
Canadian influence
But there’s a third possibility, which is that Canada really is having an influence in these U.S. elections in a way that’s hurting Republicans, and therefore Trump.
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that → ’ → Republicans
Many states are being hit hard by his trade war with this country — both his tariffs on Canadian imports and the retaliatory levies the Carney government invoked in response.
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government → hit → response
An analysis this week by the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, lays that out in some detail.
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analysis → lay → detail
The bottom line is that what you might call the “Canada effect” is having a political impact far beyond the obvious areas — border states like Maine and Michigan.
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call → call → Maine
Authors Madeline Chalecki and Delnaz Ghadiali write that Canada’s package of retaliatory tariffs, which affect only about $20 billion of U.S. exports to this country, is relatively small “but its effects are concentrated and politically salient.
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effects → write → country
It packs an economic punch.”
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It → pack → punch
It’s “bringing the trade war into some of the country’s most competitive political races and changing the political calculus” ahead of the midterms.
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It → bring → midterms
Canadian tariffs are hitting key industries in states like North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas, Montana and Illinois.
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tariffs → hit → Dakota
Most are so-called red states, i.e. reliably Republican, but they can see the link between Trump’s trade obsession and damage to their own economies, as well as the general inflation it fuels.
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it → call → economies
Other Canadian actions are having an effect, too.
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actions → have → effect
The boycott of travel to the U.S. has hit Las Vegas particularly hard.
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boycott → hit → Vegas
Democrats there are making much of the fact that Canadians, normally Nevada’s biggest source of foreign visitors, aren’t filling hotel rooms there.
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Canadians → make → rooms
What happens in Vegas, in this case, doesn’t stay in Vegas: it spills into the midterm battle.
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it → happen → battle
This is exactly what the Carney government was aiming at when it designed the retaliatory tariffs.
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it → aim → tariffs
It said so publicly.
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It → say → ?
So Hoekstra isn’t wrong in the sense that Canada wants to make sure its trade actions have an impact in key swing states.
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actions → want → states
“We’re being wise and strategic to put political pressure,” Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said back in August.
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Joly → put → August
But is this a legitimate exercise of influence, or does it cross a line into illegitimate “interference” in U.S. politics?
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it → cross → politics
The Trump administration, through Hoekstra, is trying to redefine what has been a traditional trade tactic used by Canada and others as foreign interference.
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what → try → interference
It’s laying the groundwork for political excuses at home and future retribution abroad.
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It → lay → home
Coming from this gang, it’s predictable.
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it → come → gang
But what it underlines is that Canada’s strategy is working.
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strategy → underline → what
It’s inflicting pain — and in the right places.
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It → inflict → places
The Aporia
