Thread by @ARCCollective

Despite his supporters that still exist in Canada, the Trump brand has become especially toxic in this country since he helped to foment an attack by supporters on the US Capitol on January 6. 1/25 #canpoli #CPCldr #CPC #TakeCanadaBack #cdnmedia

Conservative Party leader @erinotoole not surprisingly is trying to distance himself, though statements like "Take Canada Back" used during his leadership campaign echo the shallow populism of Trumpism. 2/25

https://twitter.com/erinotoole/status/1350823927518523393?s=20

The question arises then how much has Trumpism infected Canadian conservative politics? I know most of my conservative-voting extended family despise Trump and everything he stands for, but there are those for whom Trump is not just a hero, but a messianic figure. 3/25

I've written about these kinds of Canadian supporters over the past week and a bit, but what about individuals close to the levers of power and influence? 4/25

There is a long list, including what is found in this thread I'll include here, but I want to take a look at one particular individual as a bit of a case study and, perhaps, cautionary tale. 5/25

https://twitter.com/DFLamont/status/1350894195947368449?s=20

Back in 2017 when I was still writing articles for Anti-Racist Canada, I wrote one article about a woman named Georganne Burke and her connection of anti-Muslim groups. Some more msm journalists also took up the cause. 6/25

anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2017/07/anti-o…

Now Ms. Burke wasn't the typical kind of person who appeared on the blog in that she was very well connected politically and had been intimately involved in Conservative Party politics for years; her curriculum vitae is very impressive in that regard. 7/25

Ms. Burke, a dual citizen, is also an unabashed supporter of Donald Trump. 8/25

While I am uncertain of her current status, Burke appears to have played a role in Erin O'Toole's successful efforts to become the leader of the @CPC_HQ and, at least as of recently, appears to continue to support his leadership. 9/25

Prior to the election Burke was critical of the media reporting concerns about violence by Trump supporters who might not accept the results of the election if Trump lost. 10/25

On election day in the United States Burke, like many of us around the world, were watching as the results came in. 11/25

Though obviously confident her preferred candidate would win on November 3, as the votes continued to be counted Biden took the lead in a number of swing states that would ultimately win him the presidency. 12/25

The question being asked by November 4 is would Trump, who had been telegraphing for years that he would not accept the outcome if he lost, would concede. Burke when asked dismissed the question as ridiculous. Of course he would accept the results! 13/25

nationalobserver.com/2020/11/04/new…

However, by November 6, Burke appears to have started down a particularly undemocratic and dangerous path in denying the validity of the election. 14/25

During the month of November alone, Burke tweeted and retweeted a range of discredited claims and conspiracy theories about the election that Trump and his enablers had been promoting. 15/25

Among the most tweeted media sources was "The Epoch Times". 16/25

17/25

https://twitter.com/StephenWentzell/status/1350111009202188294?s=20

That the court filings were continuously thrown out by even Trump-appointed judges as being spurious and lacking any factual basis appears to have been of little concern. 18/25

She was also unconcerned by the call in which Trump tried to have Georgia officials "find" him enough votes to win the state. 19/25

On the eve of January 6, @MittRomney, a frequent Trump critic and only Republican senator to vote for impeachment last year, was accosted by Trump supporters prior to a flight.

Ms. Burke was not especially sympathetic. 20/25

Prior to the storming of the Capitol, Burke had been posting links to stories focusing the efforts to disenfranchise the voters of a number of states, though more specifically the largely mostly African-American and visible minority parts of those states. 21/25

When the Capitol was stormed, Burke's tone appears to have changed significantly.

"Whoever fomented this violence" indeed... 22/25

Burke's entreaty to not spread rumors regarding the attempted insurrection strikes me as rather ironic.

It also didn't take long for the game of "but both sides___!" and other misinformation to begin. 23/25

Conservative Party Leader Erin O'Toole also issued a statement concerning the attempted insurrection which Ms. Burke dutifully shared. 24/25

If Mr. O'Toole does not wish to be known as the "Canadian Trump" it might do him some good to look at how Trumpism has infused itself into his party as well as examining how his own rhetoric during and after the leadership race has contributed to this perception. 25/25

This should read connection TO, not connection OF.