Public figurePolitical leaning: LiberalProfile last reviewed: 2026-07-30
Margaret Atwood
Novelist and essayist
Canadian literary voice warning that U.S. pressure is the gravest sovereignty threat since 1812, popularizing 'elbows up' resistance, and saying Handmaid's Tale gender-authoritarian themes have grown more plausible.
Margaret Atwood spent 2025 linking Trump-era Canada–U.S. tension to War of 1812-scale threat language, explaining 'elbows up' as a hockey don't-mess-with-me stance, and telling Desert Island Discs that The Handmaid's Tale has become more and more plausible beyond the costumes.
Basis for the leaning assessment
Editorial estimate; community votes and AI should override. Progressive on gender autonomy and democratic guardrails; nationalist on Canadian sovereignty vs. U.S. annexation talk — liberal-feminist institutionalist rather than party partisan.
Current Stances
Stances are editorial interpretations, always shown with the statements and actions they rest on.
War & Peaceobserved 2025-05-30 – 2025-11-09
Treat U.S. annexation/pressure talk as historic sovereignty threat; lean on NATO deterrence
Atwood casts current Canada–U.S. tension as the most direct threat since 1812 while noting both countries' NATO membership as a grim check on escalation.
Supporting statements & actions (3)
2025-05-30Interview
I think this is the most direct threat we've had since the War of 1812.
Interview around The Handmaid's Tale series finale, reflecting on Canada–U.S. trade and sovereignty tensions under a second Trump term.
Widely clipped as Atwood's sovereignty-alarm soundbite.
2025-05-30Interview
To cheer you up, the States and Canada are both members of (NATO). So how much of a world war do you want to get into?
Same interview, arguing hostile U.S. action against Canada would first require exiting NATO and then force alliance defence dynamics.
2025-11-09Interview
It's a hockey thing. And it was this character called Gordie Howe, who is a very revered hockey player. And, 'Elbow's up,' is when somebody gets you into the corner and you block them by putting your elbow up. And it means, 'Don't mess with me.' And for those who speak of the 51st state, I do point out that it wouldn't be just one state.
60 Minutes interview with Jon Wertheim about Book of Lives and Canada–U.S. chill under Trump tariffs and 51st-state talk.
Helped mainstream 'elbows up' as the cultural slogan of Canadian pushback.
Gender & Family Policyobserved 2025-11-08 – 2025-12-07
Warn against theocratic gender control and Christian-nationalist family politics
She ties Handmaid's Tale's growing plausibility to real rollback risks and calls white Christian nationalism a contradiction of universalist Christianity.
Supporting statements & actions (2)
2025-11-08Interview
Christian nationalism is a contradiction in terms. Christianity is supposed to be a universal religion. It's worse when you add the adjective 'white.'
Same El País interview discussing Handmaid's Tale resonances, U.S. Christian nationalism and church–state separation.
2025-12-07Interview
Not the outfits. I don't think we're going to get the outfits, but the rest of it seems more and more plausible.
BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs; Atwood said after 2016 The Handmaid's Tale setting became much closer as a perennial possibility.
Global headline that Handmaid's Tale had become 'more and more plausible.'
Democracy & Institutionsobserved 2025-11-08 – 2025-11-09
Defend Canadian autonomy with elbows-up civic resistance, not annexation fatalism
Elbows-up rhetoric, label-reading consumer choices and 51st-state pushback frame democratic self-rule as something Canadians must actively hold.
Supporting statements & actions (2)
2025-11-08Interview
We've all started reading the labels, but I wouldn't call it a boycott, but rather making informed decisions.
Toronto café interview promoting her memoir; asked whether she boycotts U.S. products amid Trump attacks on Canada.
2025-11-09Interview
It's a hockey thing. And it was this character called Gordie Howe, who is a very revered hockey player. And, 'Elbow's up,' is when somebody gets you into the corner and you block them by putting your elbow up. And it means, 'Don't mess with me.' And for those who speak of the 51st state, I do point out that it wouldn't be just one state.
60 Minutes interview with Jon Wertheim about Book of Lives and Canada–U.S. chill under Trump tariffs and 51st-state talk.
Helped mainstream 'elbows up' as the cultural slogan of Canadian pushback.
Goals
Short-term
Keep 'elbows up' Canadian resistance visible
ActiveUse cultural platforms to reject 51st-state talk and normalize defensive Canadian nationalism without militaristic panic.
Declared: 2025-11-09Source ↗
Encourage informed Canadian purchasing amid U.S. tension
ActiveRead labels and make deliberate choices without necessarily branding the shift as a total boycott.
Declared: 2025-11-08Source ↗
Long-term
None recorded
Consistency Tracker
Does each new statement or decision square with the record? Verdicts are not accusations: both sides of the record are presented so readers can judge for themselves.
Consistent
Earlier statement / action
2025-05-30Interview
I think this is the most direct threat we've had since the War of 1812.
Interview around The Handmaid's Tale series finale, reflecting on Canada–U.S. trade and sovereignty tensions under a second Trump term.
Widely clipped as Atwood's sovereignty-alarm soundbite.
Later statement / action
2025-11-09Interview
It's a hockey thing. And it was this character called Gordie Howe, who is a very revered hockey player. And, 'Elbow's up,' is when somebody gets you into the corner and you block them by putting your elbow up. And it means, 'Don't mess with me.' And for those who speak of the 51st state, I do point out that it wouldn't be just one state.
60 Minutes interview with Jon Wertheim about Book of Lives and Canada–U.S. chill under Trump tariffs and 51st-state talk.
Helped mainstream 'elbows up' as the cultural slogan of Canadian pushback.
Most-Cited Sources from Voterscommunity reading list
Articles readers attached to their poll votes as evidence. Only pages cited independently by two or more voters are listed.
- 1toronto.citynews.ca/2025/05/30/margaret-atwood-calls-canada-u-s-tensions-most-direct-threat-since-the-war-of-1812 ↗
Cited by 7 voters
Liberal 5Conservative 2 - 2www.theguardian.com/books/2025/dec/07/margaret-atwood-the-handmaids-tale-has-become-more-and-more-plausible ↗
Cited by 6 voters
Liberal 4Conservative 2 - 3
Most-Discussed Moments
The statements and actions that set social media on fire — top 3, in chronological order. Every entry links to its source.
- 2025-05-30Interview
I think this is the most direct threat we've had since the War of 1812.
Interview around The Handmaid's Tale series finale, reflecting on Canada–U.S. trade and sovereignty tensions under a second Trump term.
Widely clipped as Atwood's sovereignty-alarm soundbite.
- 2025-11-09Interview
It's a hockey thing. And it was this character called Gordie Howe, who is a very revered hockey player. And, 'Elbow's up,' is when somebody gets you into the corner and you block them by putting your elbow up. And it means, 'Don't mess with me.' And for those who speak of the 51st state, I do point out that it wouldn't be just one state.
60 Minutes interview with Jon Wertheim about Book of Lives and Canada–U.S. chill under Trump tariffs and 51st-state talk.
Helped mainstream 'elbows up' as the cultural slogan of Canadian pushback.
Timeline of Statements & Actions6 records, newest first
2025-12-07Interview
Not the outfits. I don't think we're going to get the outfits, but the rest of it seems more and more plausible.
BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs; Atwood said after 2016 The Handmaid's Tale setting became much closer as a perennial possibility.
Global headline that Handmaid's Tale had become 'more and more plausible.'
2025-11-09Interview
It's a hockey thing. And it was this character called Gordie Howe, who is a very revered hockey player. And, 'Elbow's up,' is when somebody gets you into the corner and you block them by putting your elbow up. And it means, 'Don't mess with me.' And for those who speak of the 51st state, I do point out that it wouldn't be just one state.
60 Minutes interview with Jon Wertheim about Book of Lives and Canada–U.S. chill under Trump tariffs and 51st-state talk.
Helped mainstream 'elbows up' as the cultural slogan of Canadian pushback.
2025-11-08Interview
Christian nationalism is a contradiction in terms. Christianity is supposed to be a universal religion. It's worse when you add the adjective 'white.'