New York Rangers fans booed the Canadian national at Madison Square Garden on Friday night before their team faced the Toronto Maple Leafs.
‘O Canada’ has been targeted by American hockey fans ever since Canadians booed The Star-Spangled Banner at an Ottawa Senators NHL game at the beginning of February, seemingly in response to Donald Trump announcing plans to introduce 25% tariffs on Canadian imports.
Trump then paused those plans when Canada introduced a 1.3billion Canadian dollar package to increase security at the border between the two countries. But this week, Trump said he was committed to imposing them on Canada next Tuesday – as well as underlining his desire to the see country become America’s 51st state.
In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump said illicit drugs such as fentanyl are being smuggled into the United States at ‘unacceptable levels’ and that import taxes would force other countries to crack down on the trafficking.
‘We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled,’ the Republican president wrote. ‘China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date.’
The moves by Trump appear to have sparked a surge in patriotism in both countries and on Friday night in New York, typically Democrat heartland, hockey fans in Manhattan made their feelings clear.
The Canadian national anthem was booed at Madison Square Garden on Friday night
It comes amid Donald Trump’s plans to introduce tariffs on Canada on Tuesday
The booing was recorded by the New York Post’s hockey reporter Mollie Walker, who shared the footage on X and wrote: ‘Pretty loud boos from MSG crowd during Canadian national anthem ahead of NYR – Maple Leafs…’
The Rangers went on to lose the game 3-2 on the night against a Canadian side that has the Team USA captain playing for them in Auston Matthews.
The USA team recently lost the 4 National final to Canada in a game played against an intensifying political backdrop.
After Canada recorded a 3-2 overtime win against the United States, outgoing Canadian PM Justin Trudeau posted on X: ‘You can’t take our country – and you can’t take our game.’
Trump intends to put 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, with a lower 10% tax on Canadian energy products such as oil and electricity.
‘There is no emergency for the United States at the border with Canada when it comes to fentanyl, and that is exactly what we are demonstrating at this time,’ Trudeau said in Montreal on Thursday.
‘If the United States goes ahead and imposes tariffs, we already shared the details of our plan.
‘We have $30 billion worth of U.S. products that will be subject to tariffs. And $125 billion of tariffs that will be applied three weeks later. But we don’t want to be in that position.’
