Aussies ignore lefty panic and continue holidaying in the US
Paranoid left wing types have convinced themselves that the US is a paragon of wickedness, but Australians continue to travel there in huge numbers, and as Tim Blair found out when he visited recently, it is business as usual in Donald Trump’s land of the free.
Our social justice friends are a difficult bunch to work out.
Show them situations that are genuinely worrying, such as poor people being unable to pay their renewables-inflated power bills or mentally ill men nuding up in girls’ change rooms, and they’re absolutely fine with it.
All part of the great progressive project. Hooray for unaffordability and frightened children.
But show them anything associated with the genial and hardworking gentleman currently repairing the US and they are instantly seized by awful panic attacks.
President Donald Trump has so broken these sad lefties that lately they’ve become distressed by the idea of even visiting the US.
“If you were thinking about a holiday in the US, you need to rethink. Urgently,” Nine doomster Jenna Price wailed in April.
“The US is not a safe place to visit,” granny frightbat continued. “Pay even the slightest attention to travel tales and you will have heard stories about those who’ve been turned away at the border since Trump was elected. Those who’ve been detained for days on end.
“Those who have had their phones stolen by US border security. Those who are forced to turn over their passwords to their laptops or, worse, to their social media accounts.”
Oh no! Not their social media accounts!
Anyway, on the basis that one should always note Price’s advice and then do the opposite, I immediately bought a ticket to the US.
Even more recklessly, seeing as I’d doubtless be turned away at the border and probably put in social media jail, I also booked a series of hotel rooms, internal flights and rental cars. Quite the risk-taker, me, doing all of that in a country that “is not a safe place to visit”.
And you know what happened? Nothing. Along with hundreds of other Australians on my flight, and thousands in the days before and since, I swanned through customs without so much as a tasering.
Staff at Dallas Fort Worth International were as helpful as friendly they always are. So was just about everyone I met while romping through Texas, Indiana, Illinois, the Carolinas and Tennessee.
Readers will note that, aside from Illinois, I took the precaution of avoiding areas that didn’t vote for Trump in 2024. The real dangers for locals and travellers alike are in states, and especially cities, that have long been under Democrat control.
The only mildly intrusive act of Trumpian officialdom during my three weeks in the US was a luggage check on the flight to delightful Charleston, South Carolina.
“The Transport Security Administration is required by law to inspect all checked baggage,” a printed card left within my luggage explained.
“As part of this process, some bags are opened and physically inspected. Your bag was among those selected.”
Some may scream about privacy violations and such, but who cares? The US government is currently rebuilding the nation’s security. It is deporting millions of illegals and blocking others from gaining entry.
This is a massive and crucial undertaking. It’s also why Trump was elected. Social justice types may weep at footage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers rounding up illegals, but normal Americans applaud.
To complain about mere baggage searches in this context would be like whining about sourdough shortages in Gaza while Hamas still holds hostages. Get your priorities straight.
Some anti-Trumpers are coming around to common sense. Muriel Bowser, Democrat mayor of the Democrat-controlled Democrat hellhole called Washington DC, last week admitted that Trump’s crime-busting imposition of federal officers on her city had actually worked.
“This federal surge has had a significant impact on crime in Washington, DC, and we greatly appreciate the surge of officers,” Bowser said.
Among other happy statistics, Bowser noted an 87 per cent reduction in carjackings compared to the same period in 2024.
You’d happily surrender the odd social media password for that outcome. And Australians are largely on board with Trump’s vision.
“Australians are defying a global downturn in travel to the US,” the ABC reported in July. “New figures showing a rise in visitor numbers, despite Donald Trump’s tough new border controls and concerns about detentions and deportations.”
That should be “because of” rather than “despite”.
“Nearly 70,000 Australians travelled to the US in May – up almost 8 per cent on the same time last year,” the ABC went on.
“Year-on-year, travel from Australia to the US rose 4.8 per cent.”
There you go. The social justice set may now turn their minds to other vital issues. Perhaps a rape gang in England’s north has been racially profiled or something.
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