NDP not amused at prospect of ambassador Sarah Palin
OTTAWA — At least two federal New Democrat MPs don’t find all the conjecture about Sarah Palin becoming U.S. ambassador to Canada very funny.
New Democrat Nathan Cullen said if Palin was named the top U.S. representative to Canada, it would be tantamount to having to deal with two Donald Trumps.
The ambassador’s job has been vacant since last month when Obama appointee Bruce Heyman resigned following Trump’s inauguration as president.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer fuelled the rumour mill Wednesday when he didn’t outright deny the possibility, sending tongues wagging on social media.
Cullen said making Palin ambassador would be detrimental to Canada’s efforts to build a stronger relationship with the Trump administration.
He said it would be hard to take her seriously.
“She has never been very comfortable with the truth,” Cullen said in an interview Thursday. “Couldn’t recognize it most mornings if it jumped up and knocked her on the head.”
Still others questioned what message Trump would be sending by appointing Palin to the post.
“Well that would show how little Steve Bannon and his pal Donald Trump think of Canada,” MP Charlie Angus wrote on Twitter.
Already the butt of countless jokes during and after her 2008 candidacy for U.S. vice-president, many Canadians used social media to laugh off the notion of a Palin ambassadorship.
Palin’s name did briefly swirl around the Twitterverse shortly after Heyman announced he was leaving, but the social media fuss had died down in recent weeks — until Spicer’s latest non-denial.
“With respect to the ambassador, we have no additional ambassador nominations or announcements to make on that front,” Spicer said. “I’m sure, at some point, we will have soon.”