Liberals go online to test messages attacking Poilievre's record

The Liberal Party is beta-testing new videos attacking Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, one of which compares him to former U.S president Donald Trump.

The party confirms that a video it posted online earlier this week was its first to splice together footage of both Poilievre and Trump.

The Liberals' video uses Polievre's own recent viral apple-eating moment — when he got into a brusque exchange with a local journalist in B.C. — and attempts to show him taking a page out of Trump's political playbook. The video shows Poilievre and Trump using similar language.

Other videos the Liberals have posted online in the past week or so include one of Poilievre calling Bitcoin a "very clever financial decision." The video cuts to clips of his opponents in the Conservative leadership race criticizing Poilievre's views on cryptocurrency.

Peaking in value in November 2021 at over $80,000, Bitcoin's price subsequently fell by almost three quarters to just over $21,000 at its lowest point in the last year. It has since rebounded in part, reaching around $48,000 this month.

Another video includes a clip of then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2012 talking about raising the retirement age to 67 and Poilievre in the House of Commons supporting it.

Dan Arnold, former director of research and advertising at the Prime Minister's Office, said it appears the Liberals' new videos are being used to test out messages before the party sinks millions of dollars into an advertising campaign. 

"It's a bit of a testing ground to see what you want to push forward with when you move toward that big TV campaign at some point in the future," said Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara Strategic Insights and senior adviser at Alar Strategy Group.

"I think right now the government and the Liberals are being a bit more aggressive in terms of how they go at Poilievre. I don't know if they've necessarily landed on what's that vulnerability yet."

The Conservatives, who have been soaring in the polls lately, launched a national ad campaign this summer depicting Poilievre as a family man who wants to fix the country. The party planned to spend more than $3 million over three months to air the ads across the country, CBC News has reported.

David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, said the video comparing Poilievre to Trump indicates the Liberals know they can't win as "long as people think Poilievre's a comfortable and safe alternative."

"I think they've finally perhaps noticed that they can't cede the platform just to Pierre Poilievre and let him tell his story, that they've got to get out there and counter it with a counter attack."

Coletto presented data to Liberals this summer showing the bleakest polling numbers the Trudeau government has ever seen. While the negativity he reported seems to have softened somewhat, he said, the current polling climate "isn't fundamentally different" from a few months ago.

"The government's approval rating still remains really challenging," he said.