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Conservative leader Rona Ambrose calls supporters of Ezra Levant’s Rebel Media ‘idiots’

Ambrose says Levant's chanting supporters were "people acting like idiots."

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Now we have a basket of idiots too?

Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose had some choice words for supporters of Ezra Levant’s Rebel Media this week – and one of the words she chose was “idiots.”

The alt-right website bussed their supporters to a rally at the Alberta Legislature last week, and as you probably already guessed, everything spiraled out of control.

One of Levant’s guest speakers called for cyber attacks on the Government of Alberta, grown men waved signs comparing carbon pricing to “sodomy” in the presence of children and then Rebel Media’s angry mob chanted “lock her up” during a speech by Conservative leadership candidate Chris Alexander.

Asked for her reaction by reporters in Ottawa, Ambrose called Rebel Media’s chanting supporters “people acting like idiots”:

“It’s not only unoriginal, it’s completely inappropriate. We don’t lock people up in Canada.”

Not only will that one sting, things might get a little awkward.

Following the event, Levant grasped at comments by Maclean’s columnist Scott Gilmore, who compared Alexander’s choice to attend Rebel Media’s rally to lying “down with pigs”:

Gilmore is a “long-time conservative” who also happens to be married to federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna.

So it didn’t take long for Levant to connect the dots and tell his supporters Trudeau’s Liberals also think his supporters are “pigs”:

Guess we can expect Levant to e-mail his supporters telling them Ambrose’s Conservatives think they’re “idiots” too?

But Ambrose and Gilmore aren’t alone – both Wildrose leader Brian Jean and PC leadership candidate Jason Kenney turned their backs on Rebel Media’s rally following the event.

Kenney called Levant’s chanting crowd “ridiculous” and “offensive.” And Jean (who spoke at the rally alongside Levant) joined Kenney in denouncing their chants and profane signs, adding that if Rebel Media’s supporters can’t behave themselves, he wishes they “would just stay at home.”

Federal Conservative leadership candidates came down hard on Rebel Media’s rally too.

In denouncing the chants, Deepak Obhrai said he was concerned by the “intolerance creeping into Canadian politics,” while fellow leadership candidate Michael Chong said the behaviour of the crowd at the Rebel Media rally was “worthy of a dictatorship.”

Chong ripped Levant and Rebel Media because the chants were “not denounced by rally organizers,” and called on conservative leaders to “stand up against language and behaviour that undermines the rule of law and legitimacy of our political system.”

Since the Conservative leadership race began, seven out of 14 leadership candidates have made appearances on Levant’s website.

UPDATE: Following publication of this story, Conservative leadership candidate Brad Trost demanded Ambrose apologize to Rebel Media’s supporters.

Trost tweeted his regret that he could not “be there w my friend” Chris Alexander and said he “would’ve chanted w them.”

Alexander previously stated he was “mortified” by the crowd’s chants.

Photo: D. Scortegagna. Used under Creative Commons license. Facebook, Rebel Media. 

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