ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø businessman Kevin O'Leary appeared to suggest that "more than half" of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs would support an economic union with the United States during a Fox News appearance last week. Multiple social media accounts and news media then reported that half of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs were interested in becoming the 51st state, basing their reports on O'Leary's comment. This information is misleading. Polling suggests that most ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs do not support joining the United States.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly made comments suggesting Canada should become the 51st state since meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in November.
During a Dec. 27 on the Fox News program "America's Newsroom," ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø businessman Kevin O'Leary spoke about Trump's apparent interest in making Canada the next U.S. state.
"More than half of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs … want to know more," O'Leary said.
In a , O'Leary said "at least half of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs" were interested in the idea of an economic union with the United States.
The claim that "at least half of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs" were interested in Trump's 51st state proposal spread on X, formerly Twitter, in a Dec. 26 with more than five million views and 36,000 likes, and in another with more than two million views and 18,000 likes.
News media including the and the also ran misleading headlines about O'Leary's comments.
Rating: Misleading
Online polling of 1,520 adults by , conducted Dec. 6 and Dec. 9 and published Dec. 10, suggests 82 per cent of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs are against the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state, with only 13 per cent in favour.
Another online of 1,001 adults in Canada by Research Co., conducted Dec. 13 and Dec. 15 and published Dec. 20, suggests 26 per cent think their province would be "better off" joining the United States.
The polling industry's professional body, the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø could not find examples of polling that suggests half of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs would support becoming a U.S. state.
In a Dec. 26 clip , O'Leary discussed the idea of combining the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and U.S. economies and creating a passport system similar to that of the European Union, which allows passport holders the right to live and work in other EU states.
"What this could be is the beginning of an economic union," O'Leary said of Trump's 51st state suggestion.
"I like this idea and at least half of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs are interested," he said.
It's unclear how O'Leary came to the conclusion that more than or at least half of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs are interested in joining the United States as either a state or in an economic partnership.
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø reached out to O'Leary's representative for comment and will update this story when it becomes available.
However, O'Leary on Dec. 30 of his appearance on a Fox Business program where he seemed to clarify his past comments.
In the clip O'Leary says he asked his social media following for their feedback on Trump's idea.
"The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø public definitely don't want to give up their sovereignty, but they really want to explore this idea of an economic union," O'Leary wrote in the accompanying caption.
Sources
, Fox News website, Dec. 27, 2024 (, )
Clip from Kevin O'Leary Fox Business appearance on Dec. 26, 2024 (, )
Claim spread on X () and () on Dec. 26, 2024, New York Post on Dec. 26, 2024 (), the Times of India on Dec. 27, 2024 ()
Leger from Dec. 10, 2024 ()
Research Co. from Dec. 20, 2024 ()
Kevin O'Leary and clip from Dec. 30 (, )
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