Pierre Poilievre‘s probability of succeeding Justin Trudeau as Canadian Prime Minister is nearly 90% according the political market-making betting site Polymarket, with no other candidate reaching double digits. (Chrystia Freeland in second at almost 7%.)
Poilievre’s recent appearance with popular libertarian psychologist, author and podcaster Jordan Peterson — which Peterson framed as a talk with “Canada’s next Prime Minister” — was widely watched and his assertion little disputed, especially after X-owner Elon Musk shared it and wrote “great interview.”
As anyone paying attention knows, Musk has been indisputably effective at backing successful rightwing politicians lately — and using his wealth and enormous influence to put his foot on the scale for candidates of his choosing.
Musk’s strategy consists not merely of promoting his chosen ones, but also of trolling and ridiculing the candidates he’s against, as he’s shown repeatedly with snark-filled posts denigrating Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and vituperative dismissals of Trudeau, who he called “an insufferable tool.”
Poilievre speaks in a more monotone style than Musk’s American choice, President-elect Donald Trump, but the Canadian candidate uses many of the same MAGA-style rhetorical strategies — notably a total vilification of his opposition, and a portrayal of his political enemies as an entrenched bloc (Trump says “deep state”) that has systematically destroyed society.
Also like Trump, Poilievre courts conspiracists by telling people they are being “tricked” by liberals and elitists. In the video below, published by the conservative media outlet Daily Wire, Poilievre warns Canadians not to relax just because the “hated leader” Trudeau has promised to step down when his party selects his replacement.
Pierre Poilievre on Trudeau's resignation: “[Liberal politicians] want to protect their pensions and paycheck by sweeping their hated leader under the rug months before an election to trick you. And then do it all over again."pic.twitter.com/nctcj5jYul
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) January 7, 2025
Any Canadian who fails to remain angry and watchful will be susceptible, Poilievre asserts, to what Canadian liberals are doing — and he characterizes Trudeau’s stepping aside as a ploy of “sweeping their hated leader under the rug months before an election to trick you.” (Trump said similar things when Joe Biden stepped aside and VP Kamala Harris became his Democratic opponent.)
Poilievre says all liberals — implicating anyone who might seek to take Trudeau’s spot — are responsible and culpable for, he says, enabling Trudeau and helping him “break the country over the last nine years.” Trump’s rhetoric is almost verbatim as he repeatedly calls America a “broken” country.
