“I call him maple syrup MAGA, or mini-Trump,” Freeland joked after Maher asked her how to pronounce Pierre Poilievre’s name
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OTTAWA — “I hope there are some Canadians here,” said Liberal leadership hopeful Chrystia Freeland as she joined comedian Bill Maher for a one-on-one interview Friday on the set of HBO’s Real Time in Los Angeles.
Freeland, a semi-regular panelist on the irreverent political talk show, was in “full campaign mode” as she made her pitch to Maher that she was the right person to defend Canada against the whims of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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“The ballot question… is who can stand up for Canada, and who can fight for Canada,” Freeland told Maher.
Here are a few key takeaways from the sit-down.
‘Virtue signaling’, ‘identity politics’ were Trudeau’s undoing
Freeland told Maher that departing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fell out of favour with Canadians, in part, due to his trademark penchant for performative wokeness.
“I am an old-school Liberal,” said Freeland. “And Liberals in Canada win when we are focused on people and on what they need in their lives.”
“We lose when people think that we are focused on virtue signalling and identity politics.”
Freeland told Maher that she’s “received the memo” about voters being fed up with bothersome and largely symbolic policies like Ottawa’s new bylaws limiting vehicle idling.
“Politicians win when they listen to people (and) lose when we think we are smarter than the people we work for,” said Freeland.
Maher has been a fierce critic of Trudeau in recent years, notably comparing him to Hitler at the height of the early 2022 convoy protests, over his rhetoric targeting Canadians who resisted the COVID vaccine.
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Poilievre ‘maple syrup MAGA’, ‘mini-Trump’
Freeland stayed mum on the other leadership candidates, but did have a few harsh words for Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre.
“I call him maple syrup MAGA, or mini-Trump,” Freeland joked after Maher asked her how to pronounce Poilievre’s name.
Freeland said that Trump’s threats to tariff and possibly annex Canada have put Poilievre in a tough spot.
“I think he built a campaign on trying to imitate Trump, but now that Canadians see President Trump wanting to turn us into the 51st state, it’s not going so well.”
‘Little Ari’ returns
Freeland opened the interview with a story about a precocious little girl that will be familiar to those who’ve been following the leadership race.
“A couple of weeks ago, I was in a small city called Saskatoon and a little four-year old came up to me… her name was Ari, and she said to me… ‘can you stop Trump from invading Canada?’”
“So I have a question for you,” riffed Maher. “Can you stop Trump from invading Canada?”
Freeland has repeated the same line on the campaign trail, including at Tuesday’s English-language debate, even though more than a few people have questioned the story’s authenticity.
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“I ran into the same girl and she wouldn’t shut up about capital gains taxes,” quipped Quillette editor Jonathan Kay on X.
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