thumb-2020-03-032
thumb-2020-03-032 This article is more than 4 years old
Video

Peter MacKay Had Not One, But Two Train Wreck Interviews on Live Television Last Night

Peter MacKay's coronation as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada will have to be postponed until a later date

If you thought you and your family are having a tough time during this pandemic, spare a thought for Peter MacKay.

The former justice minister, who only a short time ago appeared to be a shoe-in to win the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, learned late Thursday night that his coronation ceremony will have to be postponed after the party’s leadership race was officially suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is no longer possible to meet the deadlines necessary to process memberships and donations, or print, process and count ballots in time for a June 27 announcement,” the Conservative Party said in a statement.

MacKay seemed to anticipate which way the wind was blowing.

Prior to the announcement to suspend the Conservative leadership race, MacKay issued several bizarre tweets arguing that if “Canada held elections during both world wars and the great depression,” then the Conservative Party can also hold a leadership race during a deadly viral outbreak.

Those strange tweets prompted Andrew MacDougall, Stephen Harper’s former director of communications, to ask: “Has Peter MacKay lost his mind?”

That set-up MacKay’s first train wreck interview Thursday evening.

“Has Peter MacKay, and I’m quoting him here, lost his mind?” CBC Power and Politics host Vassy Kapelos asked MacKay. “MacKay is literally the only Canadian pretending the virus is not upending absolutely everything.”

“That’s a ludicrous statement from a guy who’s not even living in Canada,” MacKay responded. “You’re talking to me, do I sound like I’ve lost my mind?”

“I find it quite odd that there is such a rallying on the part of the media and certain individuals in other camps that want it to stop. That’s what I find odd.”

MacKay appeared in another head scratcher of an interview a short while later on CTV News Network.

“You might ask the other candidates why do they want to stop,” MacKay told CTV Power Play host Evan Solomon.

“Because there’s a pandemic and they think people have other things on their mind than campaigning,” Solomon suggested. “That’s their rationale”

“Is it?” MacKay replied, his response followed by an extended silence.

MacKay’s director of communications quit his campaign last week, reportedly over objections to the candidate’s decision to continue campaigning during the pandemic.

 

Our journalism is powered by readers like you.

We’re an award-winning non-profit news organization that covers topics like social and economic inequality, big business and labour, and right-wing extremism.

Help us build so we can bring to light stories that don’t get the attention they deserve from Canada’s big corporate media outlets.

 

Donate
PressProgress
PressProgress is an award-winning non-profit news organization focused on uncovering and unpacking the news through original investigative and explanatory journalism.

Most Shared

South Asian Studies Institute NEWS

Take Back Alberta Leaders are Training ‘Scrutineers’ to Infiltrate Campaigns and Act as ‘Security’ on Voting Day

Related Stories

Video

Pierre Poilievre’s Newly Elected Conservative MP Attacks Doug Ford’s Government in Bizarre Victory Speech

View the post
Video

Conservative MP Says He Trusts Porn Companies Won’t Leak Digital IDs of Canadians Who Visit Porn Websites

View the post
Video

Get Rid of CBC’s Ethical ‘Journalistic Standards’ Policies, Conservative MP Suggests

View the post
Our free email newsletter delivers award-winning journalism directly to your inbox.
Get Canadian Investigative News You Won't Find in Corporate Newspapers.
Our free email newsletter delivers award-winning journalism to your inbox.
Get Canadian Investigative News You Won't Find in Corporate Newspapers.