Conrad Black says the recent U.S. election was unusual, but not for the reasons you might think.
In an interview with Global News’ Alan Carter, Black said Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. election was unusual because Trump will be the first president who has never held public office or a military command – or both.
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Black also said it borders on defamatory to suggest Trump’s election victory is not legitimate.
“(Trump) is a perfect democrat. He won fair and square,” said Black.
“He won the primaries. He waxed the floor with his opponents. There was no rigged election, there was no thuggishness at the polls, there was nothing remotely resembling lawlessness or anti-democratic sentiment. He is there by the straight operation of the constitutional election process in the United States.”
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Black addressed many conceptions Canadians have about the next U.S. president, including Trump’s stance on immigration, foreign policy and his relationship with the press.
Black said Trump ran as a moderate candidate. He said Trump is in favour of universal healthcare, wants to reduce taxes for small businesses and people with lower incomes, adding Trump is no friend of Wall Street.
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“It’s a mixture of conservative and liberal things traditionally, but he has kept the Republican party in the middle and kept it away from the Ted Cruz people who really were the old right,” said Black.
Black said Trump’s immigration policy falls within “traditional conservatism.”
“Traditionally, conservatism would not have abided the admission of 12 million illegal migrants, simply coming in without any process at all,” said Black.
“There’s a dislike of illegal immigration that pours in and clogs the social services, the education, the justice systems and the border states. And there is a dislike of immigration by people who do not wish the country well and are in fact antagonistic to American values.”
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Black adamantly refuted the idea was being driven by white supremacy.
“I think any such allegation is rubbish and I think Donald Trump has made it clear that it’s rubbish,” he said.
“He is not a racist, he has a perfect, unblemished record as an equal opportunity employer.”
Black also defended Trump’s relationship with journalists.
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“The president has no constitutional obligation to deal with any particular medium. He doesn’t have to talk to the press at all,” said Black.
“There almost never were press conferences prior to Franklin D. Roosevelt, so (Trump) can do what he wants. As a practical matter, he uses other media and he has a just grievance against the established media.”
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