Nathan Cullen will tour three U.S. cities next week to see what role race and identity play in the Nov. 8 election.
Invited by the US State Department, the local NDP MP will join an international team tasked with observing how racialized groups such as African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans participate in the election.
After meetings in Washington and New Orleans, the team will observe the actual election from Cleveland, Ohio — a major city in a key swing state.
“I don’t know about taking lessons from this election about how to do politics, but maybe taking lessons about how not to do some things would be important for us,” said Cullen.
Before the campaign, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was a leading proponent of the ‘birther’ conspiracy that falsely claims President Barack Obama is not a natural-born US citizen.
Trump later threatened to ban all Muslims from entering the US, claimed Mexico is sending rapists and drug dealers across the border, and for a time declined to denounce former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
“Mr. Trump is stirring up some very old memories, particularly for black voters,” said Cullen.