Former Navy Seal, professional wresting hall-of-famer and ex-Minnesota Governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura believes his state might be better off if it were to become a part of Canada.
“Since Trump dislikes Minnesota so bad and we’re so ‘out of control,’ let’s join Canada,” he said during a recent appearance on The SpinSister’s podcast. “Instead of Canada becoming the 51st state of America … I’d like to see Minnesota, all of us become Canadians.”
The 74-year-old veteran has been vocal in his opposition to the Trump administration’s lethal use of federal troops in the North Star State.
Ventura said Saturday — the day ICU nurse Alex Pretti was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis — that secession might not be a bad idea.
“It’s obvious Trump don’t want us. It’s obvious that he’s ready to fracture the whole country for his own folly,” he said. “If they don’t want us, I’m sure Canada would be happy to take us.”
President Trump has repeatedly insulted Canadians by insisting that their prime minister — whom he has referred to as their “governor” — should allow the country to become a U.S. state. He claimed last week during the World Economic Forum in Davos that Canada only “lives because of the United States.”
Ventura referred to those overtures while pitching his twist on the plan.
“I think someone seriously should contact Canada and ask them if they’re open to this,” he said.
Ventura then joked that landlocked Iowans might get the bad end of a Minnesota defection.
“Think of what a mess it’ll be when they have to cross an international border to come up here fishing,” he said.
Minnesota shares a border with Canada that spans 547 miles. The state is home to nearly 12,000 lakes.
Ventura told local media earlier this month that the deployment of federal troops to U.S. cities has turned the nation into a “third-world country.”
The former governor, who left office in 2003 after serving only one term, also suggested his unhappiness with the state of the nation has him considering a return to politics.
