Pierre Poilievre mocks Justin Trudeau for using ‘Rocky’ theme song

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In an attempt to lift the spirits of the despondent members of his Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau desperately played clips of Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa in hopes of showing them they still have a chance to retain power when the next election rolls around.

This combative version of the Liberal Leader was touted in a Toronto Star article over the weekend in which an “unleashed” Trudeau was being pegged as the party’s best weapon against the Conservatives.

“I believe we’re going to win everything,” Trudeau confidently predicted last week when he was asked how the Liberals would fare in a pair of looming byelections. “We’ve got everything going, man!”  

But the news had Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in stitches. As he addressed his party’s national caucus in Ottawa this week, Poilievre joked: “I want to start by reassuring all of you, I’m not going to force you to listen to the Rocky Balboa theme song today as Justin Trudeau did in his caucus.”

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As his followers broke into laughter, Poilievre continued, “Apparently, part of his strategy to survive the latest uprisings against his leadership was to force his caucus members to nod in agreement that he is, in effect, Rocky Balboa. Of course, every time Justin Trudeau sees a movie, he thinks of himself as the star performer. The lights are on him.”

Before they suffered another byelection blow, losing the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood-Transcona and the Liberal stronghold of LaSalle-Emard-Verdun in Montreal this week, Trudeau seemed to be spoiling for an election fight with Poilievre.

Trudeau’s recent combative comments, echoed statements he made during a 2016 appearance on 60 Minutes when he spoke about his love for Stallone’s Rocky movies.

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“People think that boxing is all about how hard you can hit your opponent. It’s not. Boxing is about how hard a hit you can take and keep going,” he said at the time.

But the latest polls hint that the Liberals will be wiped out by Poilievre in the next federal election. A Leger poll earlier this year put the Conservatives at 41% of public support, with the Liberals in second place on 25%. That disparity has only grown, with Conservative support now sitting at 45%.

As he addressed his party members, a smiling Poilievre chastised Trudeau for portraying himself as a “victim of all these unfair shots.”

“This is from a man who inherited a multimillion dollar trust fund from his grandfather, a famous name and political career from his father and who jets around the country and emits more greenhouse gases than 14,000 average Canadian families combined. But yet, somehow, he’s the underdog and the victim.”

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Poilievre then spoke about his trips across Canada this summer meeting prospective voters coast-to-coast to hear their concerns firsthand.

“In 214 events, in all regions … the men and women I saw in these places are the real champions, the real fighters, the real Rocky Balboas,” Poilievre concluded. “They are going to have real common sense Conservatives axing the tax in their corners after the next carbon tax election.”

On X, where Poilievre’s slam received over 136,000 views, the anti-Trudeau crowd hailed the Conservative Leader.

“Pierre is so smart and wise … he will be (a) great PM,” one fan cheered.

Over on Reddit, armchair pundits dismissed Trudeau for trying to revive his failing party with quotes from Rocky and Any Given Sunday.

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“They played scenes from Rocky Balboa and Any Given Sunday to MPs to buck them up. We all know which scenes they chose – gotta be ‘It’s not how hard you hit…’ and ‘It’s a game of inches.’ … This is such hokey high school pep rally s***,” one person wrote.

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After his party’s byelection loss this week, Trudeau said that “there’s all sorts of reflections to take.”

“We know that we have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of people, in LaSalle and people across the country, who are worried about the situation they find themselves in,” he said in French.

Meanwhile, Poilievre, who is set to introduce non-confidence motion next week in the House of Commons in bid to trigger election, said that the losses proved that Canadians are done with Trudeau’s Liberals.

“After nine years, this prime minister is not worth the cost,” he said.

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