Canada’s Conservative party leader was filmed calmly ripping apart a reporter who compared him to Donald Trump as he casually munched on an apple.
Pierre Poilievre, 44, is the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, currently leading in the polls to become Canada’s next prime minister.
He was standing outside eating his fruit when Vancouver-based reporter Don Urquhart claimed he was taking a page out of Republican Donald Trump’s book in terms of his politics.
But Poilievre’s calm, tough responses have made him a viral sensation.
The journalist began his question with: “In terms of your kind of strategy, you are clearly following the populist path at the moment -“
But the politician interjected: “What does that mean?”
Canada’s Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre was filmed calmly ripping apart a reporter who compared him to Donald Trump while casually munching on an apple.
The interview continued with the reporter saying, “Well, I guess I appeal to people’s more emotional levels, I certainly mean you -“
To which Poilievre says: ‘What do you mean by that, give me an example?’
The reporter then says, “You certainly often use very strong ideological language.” And Poilievre insists again: “Like what?”
The journalist says, “Left this and that right, I mean that kind of ideological…” before being cut off by Poilievre.
Poilievre counters: ‘I hardly ever talk about, I never actually talk about left or right. I don’t really believe in that.’
In the meantime, he continues to casually nibble on his apple.
Reporter Urquhart tries to continue his questioning: “Okay, a lot of people would say you’re just taking a page out of Donald Trump’s book.”
But Poilievre says: ‘Many people? What people would say that?’
Pierre Poilievre, 44, is the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, who is currently leading in the polls to become the next Canadian Prime Minister
After the interview, Don Urquhart wrote about his experiences with the politician, saying that “Poilievre became acerbic” when he asked him questions about his Trumpian “populist playbook.”
Not wanting to give details, the journalist says, “Well, I’m sure there are a lot of Canadians, but…” as Poilievre demands, “Like who?”
The reporter admits, “I don’t know who, but…”
At that point, Poilievre fires back, “Well, you’re the one who asked the question, so you must know someone.”
The journalist looks for a series of questions and says, “Okay, I’m sure there are some, but anyway, the point of this question is why should Canadians trust you with their given vote, you know, and not just the kind of ideological slant in terms of taking the page out of Donald Trump’s book, but also…’
Poilievre shows no mercy and says, ‘What are you talking about? What page? What page? Can you give me a page? Give me the page? You keep saying that.’
He tries to ask a question by saying, “In terms of a pretty dramatic turn of events in terms of Trudeau and the left wing and things like that. You make – it’s quite a game that you make with it. So I’m just wondering.’
Poilievre simply replies, “I don’t know what your question is.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre
Urquhart then asks, “So forget that, why should Canadians trust you with their vote?”
After Poilievre finally gains clarity in the interrogation, he fires back: “Common sense. Common sense for a change. We are going to make common sense commonplace in this country.
“We have no common sense in the current government.
“You know, that guy prints $600 billion, grows our money supply 32 percent in three years – that’s eight times faster than the economy – no wonder we have the worst inflation in forty years.
“I’m going to cut spending and reduce waste so we can balance the budget and bring down inflation and interest rates. Do you want to be able to pay your mortgage again?
‘Do you want to be able to pay the rent?
“Then you should vote for Pierre Poilievre, because I am the only one with a common sense plan that will reduce the purchasing power of your salary.”
After the interview, Don Urquhart wrote about his experiences with the politician, saying that “Poilievre became acerbic” when he asked him questions about his Trumpian “populist playbook.”
Write on CastagnetUrquhart did not respond to questions about his own inefficiency as a reporter, only mentioning how sarcastic and sharp Poilievre’s responses were.
After the clip went viral on social media, one person wrote: “I love casual cruelty.”
Another person added: “Masterclass in less than two and a half minutes,” while a third wrote online: “If elected I’ll consider Canada.”
Currently, most opinion polls show Justin Trudeau significantly behind his latest rival, Conservative leader Poilievre.
Last month, the Conservatives led the Liberals by 39 percent to 30 percent, an Ipsos poll showed.
About 60 per cent of Canadians want Trudeau to resign so Liberal Party members can choose a new leader, up 6 points from December 2022, according to a separate Ipsos poll.
Meanwhile, Poilievre builds his own story with TV ads portraying him as a family man.
“Pierre Poilievre is doing a great job of selling himself to Canadians,” said Darrell Bricker, CEO of polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs. But it’s not like there’s Poilievre mania. “It’s really just a desire for change,” he said.