Right-wing Americans and Canadians are largely in agreement about the cause of Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre’s federal election loss in Canada on Monday: U.S. President Donald Trump.
The rationale, though, for the blame could not be more different.
Poilievre’s Conservative Party was originally favored to win the election.
But then came Trump’s tariff war and inflammatory rhetoric about Canada becoming the “51st state,” which analysts say turned the election into a referendum on Trump.
As of Tuesday morning, ex-central banker Mark Carney’s Liberal Party had picked up 24 more parliamentary seats than the Conservatives and stands just four seats shy of holding a majority government, though counting remains underway.
Trump himself has taken credit for throwing the Canadian election into uncertainty.
“Until I came along, remember that the conservative was leading by 25 points,” Trump said in an Atlantic interview published on Monday.
He added: “I was disliked by enough of the Canadians that I’ve thrown the election into a close call, right?”
But some of Trump’s most fervent supporters are painting a different election: that the Conservative Party’s loss is not attributable to Canadians disliking Trump, but rather to Poilievre distancing himself from the U.S. leader.
“He’s going to blow this, isn’t he?” asked a right-wing influencer.
“Poilievre was up on Polymarket 83 – 16. After his anti Trump hissy fit. He’s now down 79 – 21,” noted one X user on Monday, highlighting Poilievre’s months-long decline that culminated on Election Day.
“Poilievre attacked President Trump today on X also. Guess he wanted to lose bad,” echoed someone else on Truth Social.
The “hissy fit” and attack by Poilievre in question was an Election Day post in which he urged Trump to “stay out of our election” after Trump jokingly endorsed himself.
“The only people who will decide the future of Canada are Canadians at the ballot box,” Poilievre added. “Canada will always be proud, sovereign and independent and we will NEVER be the 51st state.”
Now, Trump’s fans are pointing to Poilievre’s denunciation of Trump’s rhetoric on Canadian sovereignty as what’s to blame for the election result.
“He might have had a chance if he hadn’t belittled Trump,” swiped one right-wing influencer on X.
“If he would have only embraced the Trump phenomenon, he too could be victorious,” claimed someone else.
“Trump handed him this election on a silver platter… he was too stupid and stubborn to see it,” argued another critic. “Instead, he ran from anything that could be associated with Trump… losing his swing base in the process. Complete ineptitude.”
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