CEO Blaming Trump for Iran Shooting Down Plane Runs Company Responsible for 22 Customers' Deaths
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran boiled over in recent weeks with tit-for-tat deadly strikes that targeted a U.S. base in Iraq, followed by strikes on an Iranian-backed and Hezbollah-linked Iraqi militia, which led to a fiery assault on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on New Year’s Eve.
In response to the embassy attack, President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike that killed top Iranian military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which provoked an ineffectual missile salvo on a couple of U.S.-occupied military bases in Iraq. Just hours after those missiles were fired, Iran also (purportedly unintentionally) shot down a Ukrainian airline passenger jet, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.
Naturally, given the absolute absurdity of the current day, a number of media figures, elected Democrats and liberals around the world actually saw fit to cast blame on Trump for the deaths.
Among those to blame the president was a wealthy Canadian businessman who has his own history of having blood on his hands, the Washington Examiner reported.
There were reportedly 63 Canadians on board the Ukrainian passenger jet that took off from Tehran and was shot down by an Iranian missile within minutes. As ridiculous as it may sound to try and pin the blame for those Canadian deaths on Trump, that is precisely what Michael McCain, the CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, did via his company’s official Twitter account on Sunday.
McCain identified himself in the first of a four-part thread of tweets and wrote, “I am very angry, and time isn’t making me less angry. A MLF colleague of mine lost his wife and family this week to a needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran…”
I’m Michael McCain, CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, and these are personal reflections. I am very angry, and time isn’t making me less angry. A MLF colleague of mine lost his wife and family this week to a needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran…
— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020
“U.S. government leaders unconstrained by checks/balances, concocted an ill-conceived plan to divert focus from political woes. The world knows Iran is a dangerous state, but the world found a path to contain it; not perfect but by most accounts it was the right direction…,” he continued.
…U.S. government leaders unconstrained by checks/balances, concocted an ill-conceived plan to divert focus from political woes. The world knows Iran is a dangerous state, but the world found a path to contain it; not perfect but by most accounts it was the right direction…
— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020
“A narcissist in Washington tears world accomplishments apart; destabilizes region. US now unwelcomed everywhere in the area including Iraq; tensions escalated to feverish pitch. Taking out despicable military leader terrorist? There are a hundred like him, standing next in line,” the CEO went on.
..A narcissist in Washington tears world accomplishments apart; destabilizes region. US now unwelcomed everywhere in the area including Iraq; tensions escalated to feverish pitch. Taking out despicable military leader terrorist? There are a hundred like him, standing next in line
— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020
“The collateral damage of this irresponsible, dangerous, ill-conceived behavior? 63 Canadians needlessly lost their lives in the crossfire, including the family of one of my MLF colleagues (his wife + 11 year old son)! We are mourning and I am livid. Michael McCain.”
…The collateral damage of this irresponsible, dangerous, ill-conceived behavior? 63 Canadians needlessly lost their lives in the crossfire, including the family of one of my MLF colleagues (his wife + 11 year old son)! We are mourning and I am livid. Michael McCain.
— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020
Where to even start in addressing this utterly ludicrous rant filled with an assortment of falsities, misconceptions and unhinged Trump Derangement Syndrome on full display?
First of all, while we share in his grief over the loss of an employee’s family, it wasn’t Trump’s fault, nor is Trump “unconstrained” by checks and balances, nor was the strike against Soleimani some sort of ploy to divert attention from impeachment.
Also, Trump was right to withdraw from the “not perfect” Iran nuclear deal, and the U.S. is very much still welcomed in the region, the non-binding resolution from half the Iraqi Parliament notwithstanding. (See the continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and many others.)
As for the apparent opposition of McCain to taking out Soleimani because others like him are “standing next in line,” I guess we are never allowed to take out bad guys then, as there are and always will be others ready to pick up where they left off. Where is the logic in that?
But arguably the most striking thing about this lunatic thread is the sheer hypocrisy of what the CEO declined to mention, but was thankfully pointed out by a few users who commented on the posts: the fact that, unlike Trump in this case, Michael McCain actually is responsible for causing the deaths of innocent Canadians.
The Examiner reported that McCain’s Maple Leaf Foods company was deemed responsible in 2008 for the worst outbreak of listeria in Canadian history, an outbreak that killed 22 people and left dozens of others sick from the contaminated foods.
After a germ-laden slicing machine was discovered to be the source of the deadly contamination, the company was forced to recall its deli products and McCain was compelled to issue a public apology for the fatal illnesses his company was responsible for.
As the old saying goes, don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house. It would appear that McCain has forgotten that, and hopefully, he washed all of the blood off of his own hands before tweeting out his ill-advised and utterly ridiculous set of missives against Trump.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
