A recent headline in the Wall Street Journal neatly summed up the current state of Canada’s federal election: “How Canada’s Trump-Style Candidate Blew a 20-Point Polling Lead.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre clearly has a Donald Trump problem. With only days left in the campaign, many Canadian voters can’t help seeing the obvious similarities in style and substance with the combative populist U.S. President. It is only helping Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Poilievre’s plight is compounded by his own party’s MAGA-adjacent base. Three quarters of his caucus and almost half of his supporters are at least latent Trump supporters, according to recent polling. Even as Poilievre tries to publicly distance himself from Trump, a high-profile cohort of Trump-friendly personalities have been heaping on untimely help and praise.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith outraged many Canadians with her comments to far-right U.S. media outlet Breitbart News that a Poilievre government would be “very much in sync with” the Trump administration, leading one commentator to describe her as “Mark Carney’s secret weapon.”
Besides Smith, what other MAGA-adjacent personalities have loudly touted their support for Poilievre?
Elon Musk
Billionaire Elon Musk took time of out his busy schedule eviscerating the U.S. public service to endorse Poilievre on his social media platform X and repost many of the Conservative leader’s tweets. Musk is arguably the most influential person in Trump’s inner orbit, badly eroding Poilievre’s public narrative that the President prefers Carney to win on April 28.
Kevin O’Leary
Kevin O’Leary, aka “Mr. Wonderful,” is also a big Poilievre fan and Trump supporter. Prior to the election, the Shark Tank celebrity told U.S. networks that Trump should invite “the Prime Minister in waiting” to Mar-a-Lago, referring to Poilievre, because Poilievre is “Trump’s kind of guy.”
O’Leary was also an early apologist of Trump’s threats to annex our country, calling for an “economic union” with the U.S., which he proposed negotiating at Mar-a-Lago on behalf of all Canadians. “I think 41 million Canadians would trust me on this deal,” boasted O’Leary on Fox News.
How was this idea received by Canadian workers? “Danielle Smith and Kevin O’Leary are traitors to Canada in the simplest sense of the word,” said Mark Hancock, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. “They’re happy to sell out Albertan workers and Canadian workers as long as it means keeping the bonus cheques rolling for their CEO friends.”
Ben Shapiro
Ben Shapiro is a leading voice in the MAGA movement with over 7 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. Shapiro recently called Canada “a silly country” that should be annexed by Trump without voting rights. He also strongly supports Poilievre, posting a 9-minute video called “Pierre Poilievre is for the People” where Shapiro calls the Conservative leader a “tremendous politician” who opposes “radical sexual individualism.”
Shapiro further expounds that women “owe it to men to be good wives and mothers” and that “Poilievre is talking about the dream that… can only be accomplished by families allowed to live free… without the heavy hand of government dictating every aspect of how they raise their children.” Shapiro’s endorsement is unlikely to help Poilievre close his 25-point deficit among female voters.
Ezra Levant
Ezra Levant, owner of Rebel News, was a mentor to a young Pierre Poilievre, according to recent reporting from CBC. Its reporter interviewed Mark Bourrie, the author of Ripper, a scathing biography of Poilievre that documented his ties to Levant dating back decades. Poilievre was cited as Levant’s communications director when campaigning in a 2002 byelection before Levant stepped aside for former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Both Poilievre and Levant strenuously deny any recent connections. “I haven’t had any meaningful dealings with Poilievre in nearly 25 years,” Levant said in a statement to CBC.
When asked whether Poilievre and Levant were still friends or have been coordinating around the election, his campaign responded: “No. Your insinuations are false.” However, another Levant-controlled group called For Canada has registered as a third-party campaign with Elections Canada with a stated mission to “aggressively oppose Mark Carney in the upcoming April 28 election, using uncapped donations to fund hard-hitting ads and tactics beyond what political parties can do.” By the way, if you are looking for a wide selection of pro-Trump merch, Rebel News has got you covered.
Conrad Black
Convicted fraudster and former prison inmate Conrad Black recently penned an op-ed warning that Liberal leader and Prime Minister “Mark Carney has poor values.” This is one of seven recent anti-Carney opinion pieces from Black that the editors of the National Post felt worthy to print. News enthusiasts will recall that Black was pardoned by his “friend” Trump in 2019.
Alex Jones
Alex Jones, celebrity conspiracy theorist, denier of climate change and the Sandy Hook shooting is another vocal supporter of Poilievre. Calling him “the real deal”, Jones was enthused that Poilievre “is saying the same things as me”. Jones seemed to be alluding to Poilievre’s conspiratorial insinuations about the World Economic Forum, something the Conservative leader’s supporters continue to loudly indulge in on the campaign trail.
Matt Gaetz
Another odious endorser of Pierre Poilievre from the MAGA-sphere is former congressman Matt Gaetz, who tweeted “Carney won’t do well in the upcoming debate. Take Pierre now!” Gaetz is seen as hard core MAGA loyalist who was nominated by Trump as US attorney general before withdrawing shortly after a damning congressional report documented that Gaetz engaged in paid sex with a minor and drug abuse.
Want some more questionable endorsements? Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott supports Poilievre and is also a climate change denier who believes global temperature rise is “probably doing good.” UK Tory leader and “net-zero skeptic” Kemi Badenoch is strong supporter of Poilievre, describing him as “a new friend and ally”.
Jordon Peterson, Joe Rogan, and Stephen Harper have all endorsed Poilievre, helpfully clarifying the numerous ties between the Conservative leader and the climate-denying MAGA movement. As election day nears, concerned Canadians should take note and vote accordingly.
The post A Rundown of Trump Allies That Have Endorsed Pierre Poilievre appeared first on DeSmog.
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