Doug Ford‘s hot mic admission that he “100%” wanted Donald Trump to win the U.S. presidential election has jolted the snap Ontario vote.
That’s because Ford framed the Feb. 27 campaign as a referendum on who could best deal with Trump’s threatened tariffs against Canada.
But the Progressive Conservative leader was caught Monday on a hot mic at his Etobicoke campaign office confiding that he had hoped the Republican Trump would beat Democrat Kamala Harris last November.
“On election day, was I happy this guy won? One hundred per cent I was. Then the guy pulled out the knife and f—-ing yanked it in me,” said the Tory leader doing a stabbing motion with his hand.
Ford’s main rivals pounced on his candid comments Monday to Tory candidates Christine Hogarth and David Piccini and several members of the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association.
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie released a new 60-second ad to highlight the PC leader’s apparent hypocrisy by repeatedly playing the clip: “Was I happy this guy won? One hundred per cent I was.”
“Doug Ford just said he was happy Donald Trump won the election. Happy the guy who campaigned on a trade war with Canada became president?” intones a female narrator against footage of Trump boasting “the tariff will be substantial in some cases” and that he is “a tariff man standing on a tariff platform.”
“He was happy? Was he happy Canadians might lose their jobs? Was he happy about the threat of Canada becoming a 51st state?” continues the announcer.
“Or does he just care so little about the people of this province … that he saw an attack on Ontario as an opportunity for himself. What else does he say when he thinks you’re not listening?”
New Democratic Leader Marit Stiles said Tuesday it was no surprise Ford would say that.
“Doug Ford keeps making the case for why he’s not the guy for the job. He says one thing to you and another thing behind closed doors,” said Stiles.
“We can’t trust Ford to get the job done and we can’t trust him to defend Ontario. It’s time to show him the door. It’s pretty sad, really. Doug Ford loves Trump, and Trump doesn’t even know who he is,” she said.
Public-opinion research has suggested Canadians overwhelmingly preferred Harris over Trump last fall.
Pollara Strategic Insights found 62 per cent of respondents had positive feelings about Harris with only 18 per cent having negative feelings toward the then-Democratic vice-president.
The firm found 66 per cent had negative feelings about Trump with 20 per cent having positive feelings toward him.
Ford, whose campaign slogan is “Protect Ontario,” is expected to respond later Tuesday in Ottawa.
The Tory leader has styled himself as the anti-Trump sporting a blue hat that reads “Canada Is Not For Sale” to counter the American president’s trademark red cap emblazoned with “Make America Great Again.”
On Monday, Trump paused his threatened 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods until at least next month, meaning the levies will not be in place before Ontarians vote.
