Doug Ford

Doug Ford channels Trump at huge rally in Toronto

Queen's Park is not the Oval Office, and newly-minted Progressive Conservative Party leader Doug Ford is not Donald Trump. 

Still, it's hard not to notice the parallels between their respective journeys to power right now.

A jam-packed "unity rally" hosted by the latter businessman-turned-politician in Etobicoke last night made this all the more clear.

By some estimates, as many as 2,000 people showed up for Ford's Monday night rally.

Further to this, a Mainstreet Research poll released today shows that Ford's PC Party currently has 47 per cent support among "decided and leaning voters."

Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario Liberals were found to have 26.2 per cent, Andrea Horwath and the NDP sit at 18.6 per cent, and Mike Schreiner's Green party had 6.4 per cent support among those surveyed.

More concerning still (for those who aren't fans of Trump-style politics) is the language being used by Ford and his supporters in the run up to the June 7 provincial election.

The brother of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford told the crowd at his rally last night that he would "take back this province," similar to Trump's assertion that "America is back!" under his leadership. 

Ford Nation, meanwhile has been calling upon the politician to "Make Ontario Great Again" (or "#MOGA," as some have abbreviated the classic Trump campaign slogan.)

Ford had been blowing off comparisons to Trump as recently as last month, though some on Twitter are sharing a clip from 2016 this week in which he pledges his "unwavering support" for the then presidential candidate.

"Doug Ford, a Trump-like 'faux populist', is on his way to becoming the next premier of Canada's largest province," reads a recent Al Jazeera piece called "The Trump 'virus' spreads to Canada."

"The brothers Ford are proof that with the right help, at the right time, and given the right circumstances, lots of gullible people, propelled, in part, by fear, avarice and ignorance, are susceptible to the appeal of calculating charlatans."

It may also be of note that Ford took the stage at last night's rally to the Rocky theme song, "Eye of the Tiger," like Trump did at a rally in Pennsylvania circa 2016.

Or maybe old white guys just really like that song, I don't know.

Lead photo by

lucci_182


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