President Donald Trump's cameo appearance in the holiday classic comedy Home Alone 2: Lost in New York City was cut from broadcasting in Canada, but the reason wasn't political. Before the Manhattan mogul took a position at the top of American politics, he was a highly-publicized figure in pop culture, headlining his own television series in The Apprentice, and appearing in several other productions as well, from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Sex and the City to the Sandra Bullock rom-com Two Weeks Notice.
In the case of Home Alone 2, Trump's brief onscreen stint took place in New York's luxurious Plaza hotel. After Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Culkin) finds himself on the wrong plane – the rest of his extensive family are heading down to Florida for the holidays – he is plopped down in the middle of the Big Apple, as the title suggests, alone. Despite his mother's (Catherine O'Hara) worrying for his well-being, Kevin proves to be more than capable of taking care of himself. With a great big wad of cash and his father's credit card, the young deviant manages to trick the reluctant Plaza staff (memorably played by Tim Curry and Rob Schneider) that he's accompanied by a guardian, and lands himself a fine and expensive suite. Upon entering the prestigious building for the first time, however, Kevin asks a stranger where he can find the hotel's lobby. The stranger who gives him the answer: Donald Trump.
This snippet from the film would eventually be seven seconds of eight total minutes cut from Home Alone 2 by the CBC, Canada's leading public broadcaster. In the time since this omission blew up on social media and reporting on the matter has similarly increased, speculation (even from Trump himself) has grown that the decision may have been politically motivated. This is, in fact, not the case at all. In response to the extensive social media response about the decision, CBC stated that these edits were made to the movie in 2014 – long before Trump had even announced his intention to run for president – and that it has been this version of the film which has played since.
As it could have and should have been speculated, this Trump-less edition of Home Alone 2 was an attempt by the CBC to allow for more commercial breaks. Films of all kinds, with and without controversial cameos, are often trimmed by broadcasting companies to better fit their quota for marketing and advertisements. Content-based restrictions in countries that celebrate the democratic process and its citizens' entitlement to free speech – like Canada and the United States – are, thankfully, very rare.
The only time that is ever used is when the broadcaster wants to tame violent or sexually explicit content to meet its internal and/or national broadcasting requirements. So, no, the CBC's decision to cut of Trump's cameo from Home Alone 2 was not some sort of petty ploy to illustrate the company's position on the controversial president.