The leader of the Canadian Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre was observed calmly munching on an apple as a reporter compared him to former President Donald Trump.
Poilievre went viral after video footage showed him and Times Chronicle Editor Don Urquhart engaging in an interview at an orchard located in Penticton, British Columbia, according to Fox News. During the interview, Poilievre could be seen remaining calm and swatting down the reporter’s attempt to bait him with certain questions.
Urquhart could be seen questioning Poilievre about him “taking the populist pathway” and “appealing to people’s” emotions.
“In terms of your certain strategy, currently you’re obviously taking the populist pathway,” Urquhart told him prior to being interrupted.
Poilievre cut in as he was munching on an apple and could be heard asking Urquhart, “what does that mean?”
Pierre Poilievre casually smacks down a left wing journalist while munching on an apple. pic.twitter.com/FeAcjCncvw
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 17, 2023
“Well, uh, appealing to people’s more emotional levels I would guess,” Urquhart explains.
As Poilievre continues munching on his apple, he asks, “What do you mean by that? Give me examples.”
Urquhart can be heard continuing to say, “Certainly you tap very strong ideological language quite frequently,” adding that Poilievre has used language like “left-wing, you know, this and that, right-wing, you know – that type of ideological stuff.”
“I almost never talk about – I never really talk about left or right,” Poilievre tells the reporter. “I don’t really believe in that.”
The reporter can be heard once again questioning Poilievre’s so-called populist beliefs, “a lot of people would say that you are simply taking a page out of the Donald Trump book.”
“Like which people would say that?” Poilievre asks as he takes a bite out of his apple.
Urquhart can be heard stammering as he answers, “Well, I’m sure a great many Canadians,” to which Poilievre presses him and asks, “Like who?”
The reporter can be heard admitting, “I don’t know who, but..”
“Well, you’re the one who asked the question so you must know somebody,” Poilievre points out.
Urquhart seemingly chuckles at Poilievre’s question and says he is sure “there’s some out there” before moving on to question the politician about why Canadians should trust him “with their vote” given that he has taken “a page out of Donald Trump’s book.”
Poilievre responds to the reporter’s comments by questioning, “What are you talking about? What page? What page? Can you give me a page? Give me the page? You keep saying that.”
The interview between the two concludes with Poilievre saying that Canadians should vote for him because of “common sense.” Poilievre points to how Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has caused the “worst inflation in four decades” due to him reportedly “growing the money eight times faster than the economy.”
Trudeau and Poilievre are vying for the position of prime minister in Canada’s upcoming election in 2025, with Poilievre being touted as the candidate who could possibly defeat Trudeau from earning a fourth term, according to Politico.
An Ipsos poll showed that Poilievre was emerging as the preferred choice for prime minister among candidates as he received 40% of support among voters while Trudeau received 31% of support, according to The Economic Times.