Poilievre gets international attention for apple-eating viral moment
CBC
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre picked up some name recognition south of the border this week after a video of him chomping down on an apple while chiding a local journalist went viral.
While the video has attracted both praise and criticism online, ultimately it's a win politically, said Alex Marland, a professor at Acadia University and author of the book Whipped: Party Discipline in Canada.
"This is worth lots of money in marketing dollars. Because it's earned media. So it's reaching a lot of people," he said.
"Pierre Poilievre is somebody who likes getting into policy, he likes debating, he's very quick off his feet, and all those things kind of come out in this case. So they're playing to strengths."
In a video posted by Poilievre that has been viewed more than 1.4 million times on social media platforms, Don Urquhart, editor of the Times Chronicle, gets into a terse exchange with the Conservative leader about populism and politics in Oliver, B.C.
"You're obviously taking the populist pathway," Urquhart says in the video.
"What does that mean?" Poilievre asks.
"Certainly you tap very strong ideological language quite frequently," Urquhart says.
"Like what?" Poilievre asks.
"Left wing, you know, this and that, right wing," Urquhart replies.
Poilievre responds that he "never really" talks about the left or right.
"I don't really believe in that," he says.
"A lot of people would say that you're simply taking a page out of the Donald Trump book," says Urquhart.
"A lot of people? Like which people would say that?" says Poilievre while biting into an apple.
