Queen's Park is not the Oval Office, and newly-minted Progressive Conservative Party leader Doug Ford is not Donald Trump.
Still, it's hard not to notice the parallels between their respective journeys to power right now.
A jam-packed "unity rally" hosted by the latter businessman-turned-politician in Etobicoke last night made this all the more clear.
Packed house for the @fordnation Unity Rally tonight! #PCPO #onpoli pic.twitter.com/zyC6XdNVET
— Melanie Paradis (@Melanie_Paradis) March 19, 2018
By some estimates, as many as 2,000 people showed up for Ford's Monday night rally.
The fact @fordnation can pull together a room this packed, on less than a week’s notice, NOT downtown Toronto, on a weeknight should make the Wynne Liberals very, very nervous. #onpoli https://t.co/JmXvj1O5LV
— Kate Harrison (@KatlynHarrison) March 19, 2018
Further to this, a Mainstreet Research poll released today shows that Ford's PC Party currently has 47 per cent support among "decided and leaning voters."
Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario Liberals were found to have 26.2 per cent, Andrew Horwath and the NDP sit at 18.6 per cent, and Mike Schreiner's Green party had 6.4 per cent support among those surveyed.
As more fresh polling ( Mainstreet Research ) reveals this morning that Conservatives would win a massive majority with 47% in an election held today, Doug Ford whips up his base in a Trump-like rally last night that drew a couple of thousand... https://t.co/8DEe3CV9zm
— john stall (@johnstall_radio) March 20, 2018
More concerning still (for those who aren't fans of Trump-style politics) is the language being used by Ford and his supporters in the run up to the June 7 provincial election.
The brother of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford told the crowd at his rally last night that he would "take back this province," similar to Trump's assertion that "America is back!" under his leadership.
Ford Nation, meanwhile has been calling upon the politician to "Make Ontario Great Again" (or "#MOGA," as some have abbreviated the classic Trump campaign slogan.)
Thank freaking God! Go get em Doug. Let's All Make Ontario Great Again!
— Colonel Murray (@mikepredyk) March 20, 2018
Ford had been blowing off comparisons to Trump as recently as last month, though some on Twitter are sharing a clip from 2016 this week in which he pledges his "unwavering support" for the then presidential candidate.
"Doug Ford, a Trump-like 'faux populist', is on his way to becoming the next premier of Canada's largest province," reads a recent Al Jazeera piece called "The Trump 'virus' spreads to Canada."
"The brothers Ford are proof that with the right help, at the right time, and given the right circumstances, lots of gullible people, propelled, in part, by fear, avarice and ignorance, are susceptible to the appeal of calculating charlatans."
What an exciting evening at the Doug Ford Unity Rally in Toronto! Our new Leader packed the house! pic.twitter.com/PAyethi211
— April Jeffs (@April_Jeffs) March 20, 2018
It may also be of note that Ford took the stage at last night's rally to the Rocky theme song, "Eye of the Tiger," like Trump did at a rally in Pennsylvania circa 2016.
Or maybe old white guys just really like that song, I don't know.
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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