In an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Pierre Poilievre, Canada’s opposition leader, talked about jujitsu, kickboxing, the fine points of wheel kicks in martial arts, as well as Canada’s energy policies and President Trump’s threats to annex Canada, according to the podcast released Thursday.
In his first extensive visit to the United States, Mr. Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party, used his appearance on the podcast, one of the most popular in the world, to say that he wished that Mr. Trump would stop threatening Canada’s sovereignty — using an expletive to reinforce his point.
“We’re very proudly Canadian, so we’re never going to be the 51st state,” Mr. Poilievre said during the two-and-a-half-hour interview.
Mr. Poilievre argued against the economic tariffs Mr. Trump has imposed on Canada and talked about wanting to turn Canada into an energy superpower through deregulation. He added that he wanted to make Canada “the freest economy in the world” and condemned “bossy” governments.
In late 2024, with the deeply unpopular Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clinging to power, Mr. Poilievre had built a seemingly unsurmountable lead in the polls by focusing on issues of affordability and adopting a Trump-inspired populist style and message. But Mark Carney won the election to become prime minister after Mr. Trump upended the campaign with his annexation threats and voters saw parallels between Mr. Poilievre and Mr. Trump.
A year after being elected, Mr. Carney remains popular among voters and has continued to rise in the polls — at the expense of Mr. Poilievre and the Conservatives.
Mr. Poilievre is popular among members of the Conservative base who also tend to like Mr. Trump, who is otherwise deeply unpopular in Canada. But failing to attract support among mainstream voters, Mr. Poilievre recently undertook tours of Europe and the United States trying raise his standing both at home and abroad.
His appearance with Mr. Rogan gave him access to his biggest audience by far, presenting both potential rewards and risks. Mainstream voters in Canada could be turned off by Mr. Rogan bringing up a conspiracy theory popular with the American right that Mr. Trudeau was the illegitimate son of Fidel Castro — and Mr. Poilievre gentle chiding that Mr. Trudeau actually wasn’t.
At the same time, the podcast gave Mr. Poilievre access to an audience of young men who represent a growing part of the Conservative movement both in the United States and in Canada. A member of Mr. Poilievre’s party, Jamil Jivani, who is a friend of Vice President JD Vance, recently launched a tour of Canadian campuses in an effort to reach young male voters.
Mr. Poilievre tried to set the tone for his appearance by giving Mr. Rogan a 70-pound kettlebell embossed with the Canadian flag. He riffed on the superiority of kettlebells over dumbbells in building strength.
“It’s all about explosive power and that’s what kettlebells give,” he said.
Mr. Poilievre, who usually avoids talking about Mr. Trump, spent only a couple of minutes out of his two-and-a-half-hour appearance speaking about Mr. Trump’s threats to annex Canada. He then retreated to seemingly safer ground by discussing martial arts with Mr. Rogan, who practiced martial arts in his youth and was a commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Mr. Poilievre never returned to Mr. Trump after mentioning him once, even as he made references to Bruce Lee at different points during his lengthy appearance.
“I think Bruce Lee said that,” Mr. Poilievre said. “Simplicity, hack away at the unnecessary.”
Norimitsu Onishi reports on life, society and culture in Canada. He is based in Montreal.
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