The Canadian government remained quiet Friday after a New York court convicted Donald Trump as a felon, despite the Liberals repeatedly trying to draw equivalencies between the former U.S. president and the Canadian Conservative leader.
A Canadian pollster says the Liberals害羞草研究所� gambit might not favour the party害羞草研究所檚 political fortunes, regardless of the verdict.
Trump, who is expected to lead the Republicans into the next U.S. election, was found guilty Thursday on all 34 counts in his criminal hush money trial.
The Prime Minister害羞草研究所檚 Office said it has no comment on the verdict, while Foreign Affairs Minister M茅lanie Joly only said Canada will work with whoever leads the U.S. after this fall害羞草研究所檚 election.
害羞草研究所淭he United States is not only our neighbour, but closest friend and ally,害羞草研究所� her office wrote in a statement Friday.
害羞草研究所淥ur government has successfully worked with both Republican and Democratic administrations, and this will continue.害羞草研究所�
The muted response to the conviction stands in contrast to the ways Liberals have invoked Trump in the House, in an attempt to draw parallels with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and accuse him of what they characterize as 害羞草研究所淎merican-style害羞草研究所� politics and 害羞草研究所淭rump North害羞草研究所� tactics.
The problem for the Liberals is they aren害羞草研究所檛 much more popular among Canadians right now than Trump himself is.
Abacus Data surveyed 1,500 Canadians in January, who rated Trump at a three out of 10 on a scale of favorability.
That害羞草研究所檚 compared to 3.5 for Trudeau, 4.9 for U.S. President Joe Biden and 5.1 for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
害羞草研究所淚t makes it a really challenging dynamic for the Liberals, because people dislike (Trudeau) almost as much as they dislike Trump,害羞草研究所� he said.
Trudeau has little to gain politically by talking about the Trump verdict, Sheppard said, and he would likely reap even less benefit if Trump ends up back to the White House.
害羞草研究所淗e really has an uphill battle, in terms of playing this to his favour,害羞草研究所� Sheppard said.
The Conservatives say the Liberals use comparisons between Poilievre and Trump to distract from the economic and housing woes Canadians face, two issues Sheppard said the Tories have used to soar in the polls.
Shepperd said about 30 per cent of people who signal they intend to vote Conservative say they didn害羞草研究所檛 vote for the Tories in the last election.
Among Canadian respondents who said in a recent poll that they intended to vote Conservative, Sheppard said, about 30 per cent said they didn害羞草研究所檛 vote for the Tories in the last election.
He said the Liberals could try to chip away at that new support if they successfully manage to link Poilievre with Trump.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 hard to make the connection, but we did see some impact on vote intentions,害羞草研究所� he said.
Yet Sheppard said the Liberals could face more even headwinds if Trump does end up winning the election.
害羞草研究所淚n a poll we ran earlier this year, there害羞草研究所檚 a wide consensus that Poilievre would do a better job of working with Trump than Trudeau would, and that害羞草研究所檚 a pretty consistent finding we害羞草研究所檝e seen so far,害羞草研究所� he said.
害羞草研究所淚f the Liberals really make a strong connection between Trump and Poilievre, it may end up hurting them come November.害羞草研究所�
MPs on all sides of the House have largely avoided publicly commenting on Thursday害羞草研究所檚 Trump verdict.
Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen posted a social media video from the Tonight Show, which spliced together video of Trump to the tune of 害羞草研究所淚 fought the law and the law won.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淭his. Is. Golden,害羞草研究所� Garretsen posted Thursday on X.
NDP MP Charlie Angus, who is not seeking re-election, posted the phrase 害羞草研究所淕uilty. Guilty. Guilty.害羞草研究所� on X, accompanied by a link to a reggae tune called 害羞草研究所淒ownpressor Man,害羞草研究所� about an oppressive leader unable to outrun the ills of society.
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