Where There's Smoke, There's Fire.

Trump has said Poilievre is "not a MAGA guy". Why Trump's off-handed response - and Poilievre's track record - should give us cause for concern.

Last Friday, the Spectator magazine’s Ben Domenech (BD) hosted an interview with Donald Trump. Midway through, Trump made an off-handed remark about Pierre Poilievre.

Here’s the transcript:

BD: “The Conservatives obviously have taken a hit in the polls since some of the comments that you’ve made that the Liberals have leaned into. Do you think that they’re still going to be able to pull it out up there?”

DJT: “Well, I think his biggest problem is he’s not a MAGA guy, you know? I mean, he’s really not — he’s not a Trump guy at all.”

BD: “He’s more of a throwback Republican.”

DJT: “He’s… different. Making a big mistake. They all make that mistake. You know. They think they’re going to be the tough guy and they’re going to knock out Trump, and they end up getting the hell beat out of ’em. So I don’t know. I mean, I can’t tell you, Pierre. I just don’t know. I don’t like what he’s saying about me. It’s just not positive about me. And we’ve done a great job.”

All Bark, No Bite

Moments later, Poilievre hurried out this Tweet:

The interview barely made the headlines. Hardly the material to demand an immediate tweet.

By contrast, remember the White House fiasco last Friday? This major geopolitical meltdown saw the American President and his aides belittle and bully a longstanding ally, Ukrainian President Zelensky, on live TV.

This was a major geopolitical event, not only for Ukraine, but for Canada.

Canada has the 11th highest Ukrainian population in the world, with over 1.2 million Canadians being ethnically Ukrainian.

Any Canadian leader should have issued an immediate statement on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of worried Ukrainian-Canadians - and yet it took Poilievre nearly 5 hours after his first tweet to comment!

Note his careful, relaxed, and neutral tone. No mention of Trump as the aggressor. (Contrast with the tone and speed of his Oct 7 tweet).

If Trump and Poilievre were criticizing each other, it’s got to be the most indirect, respectful critiques they could have made.

Let’s not forget — both of them are well-known for their aggressive approach and vicious attacks of their opponents. If these two men really disliked each other, they would not be able to hide it.

Poilievre’s Track Record

One of the frequent criticisms the Liberals have lobbed at Poilievre has been that “he’s following Trump’s playbook”: from his tirades against “radical leftists” and his “Canada First” rally, to his “Bring It Home” jackets and “Women for Pierre” t-shirts.

Poilievre has made himself a reputation for attacking experts, belittling opponents, and sowing division, and so far…it’s worked. His Conservatives were absolutely dominant in the polls from June 2023 to Jan 2025, as shown in blue by Ipsos polling below.

Poilievre’s party was so dominant in fact, that he was seen as Canada’s “Prime Minister-in-waiting”. During this time, Poilievre started to paint a picture of his vision for Canada: alluding to a nostalgic past, defending an oppressed working class, stoking nationalistic pride, championing “Canadian heroes”, and cracking down on criminals and dissent.

But together these policies should be concerning — because they sound very familiar.

Is Poilievre a MAGA guy?

A growing number of experts have drawn connections between the patterns of fascism, and the patterns of Trump. Propaganda. Cult of the leader. Ruthless repression of dissent. Anti-intellectualism. Creating a mythic past. Victimhood. Male-dominated hierarchy.

Of course, it’s a much easier argument to make that Trump is a fascist. But Poilievre has certainly been making moves — for years now — that directly align with talking points, strategies, and policies used by Donald Trump.

Trump says we should believe him — when he says Pierre Poilievre’s “not a MAGA guy”.

But coming from a convicted felon, narcissist, and — according to former White House Chief of Staff, John F Kelly— a “pathological liar”, — I’m not sure we should.