The fact is that the United States elected a guy who is an unapologetic racist. It's tough for any outside observer to view the US positively given the recent election results. When you place a man in power who wants to create a registry of Muslims it doesn't really matter what else your country has done, it's complete and utterly despicable.

Let's be clear, other countries are doing things better than the US. The response in Canada to dog-whistle xenophobic bullshit from our previous PM was a swift kick out of office. Harper was pilloried for comments that wouldn't even be a blip if it had been said by Trump.

The circle jerk here is justified. The US is socially regressive and increasingly dominated by anti-intellectualism. From climate change to immigration policies, the US is headed in the wrong direction.

I hope that things change over the coming years. I hope in 4 years there's an acknowledgement that, assuming Trump stays true to the platform he's presented, a mistake was made in the 2016 election. If that doesn't end up being the case then American influence will continue to wane, and deservedly so.