On Thursday, March 16, UNBSJ sociology professor Dr. Ricardo Duchesne held an informal talk in the Ganong Hall Lecture Theatre on United States President Donald Trump, the November American presidential election and factors that influenced Trump’s win.
Duchesne says the majority of universities have predominantly anti-Trump views, but he would like to challenge that status quo and show that there are academics that are critical of the anti-Trump monolith. Duchesne has supported Trump since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015 because he feels that North America needs a political leader who could tackle the immigration issue without succumbing to pressures from either side of the traditional political spectrum. He feels that in this regard, Trump is the perfect candidate.
“He puts Americans first, he rejects the notion that all western leaders somehow are the caretakers of humanity, that western nations are places for the people of the world,” Duchesne says in regards to Trump and what makes him a nationalist.
Duchesne admires that Trump stands firm against this notion and adds that Trump is civic nationalist because of his “America First” stances against mass immigration and cultural Marxism. Duchesne adds, “Trump represents the beginning of the rejection of this ideology.”
Duchesne lectured for approximately thirty minutes discussing globalism and how Trump’s election was indicative of a turning tide in international politics. Nationalists, he says, have more concerns that they feel need to be addressed.
People gathered in the lecture theatre by 4pm with an impressive crowd of between 40 to 50 people. When asked why they chose to attend, most attendees wished to remain off the record but the general consensus was that they had seen the posters around campus and were either curious or interested as to what would be presented.
