Scott Moe says he has no preference whether Trump or Biden wins U.S. election
Sask. Party Leader says he is focused on provincial election; Meili says he is anti-Trump
Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe said it doesn't matter whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden is elected as president of the United States.
"I have no preference on who would be the president of the United States," he said, speaking to reporters at a campaign stop in Battleford Monday morning.
On Friday, Moe had said a Biden victory would be concerning when asked if he would rather see Donald Trump get elected given the Keystone XL pipeline project. The democratic candidate has promised to kill the Keystone XL pipeline project if elected president.
The project was blocked by Barack Obama in 2015, but then the Trump administration moved to revive the project in 2017. It continues to be plagued by delays despite Trump's approval.
The pipeline, should it move forward, would transport up to 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta to Nebraska — approximately one-fifth of all of the oil transported daily between Canada and the United States.
Moe said it could hurt Saskatchewan workers if the project doesn't go ahead, but on Monday Moe said Trump has also created problems for the province.
"We've also had many challenges with the Trump administration over the course of my time as Premier and even previous to that," Moe said.
He pointed to the tariffs imposed on Canadian steel and aluminum.
"I think of the prospective conversation around implementing those very same tariffs on uranium," Moe said. "I think of the whole conversation around the updating of the NAFTA trade deal to the USMCA."
Moe said he's personally advocated in Washington, D.C., on all three points of contention.
Meili prefers Biden
Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili said Monday that he would prefer Biden over Trump, citing tariffs that affected Saskatchewan but also Trump's handling of the pandemic.
"I think he's been a bad president for the world, the way he's approached COVID-19, so much of the attitudes that he's been bringing forth, we really hope to see him no longer in the White House."
The Saskatchewan provincial election is happening on Oct. 26.