‘Sometimes the truth hurts’: Ford defends campaign manager who criticized Poilievre

Ontario Premier Doug Ford responds to Conservative strategist Kory Teneycke’s comments about Pierre Poilievre’s election campaign.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is defending his long-time campaign strategist Kory Teneycke for comments he made criticizing federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Speaking to CTV Power Play host Vassy Kapelos last week, Teneycke accused Poilievre and his team of “blowing” a big lead in the polls, which now firmly place the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives by a notable margin.

“I know it’s uncomfortable for people to hear that said out loud, but it’s in every poll and every poll aggregator, the numbers are the numbers, and saying that you don’t believe in polls, if you’re managing a campaign, it’s delusional,” Teneycke told Kapelos in an interview on Tuesday.

Some Conservative supporters were spotted at a rally last week wearing shirts and waving signs that read: “Do you believe the polls?”

Teneycke, who served as Premier Doug Ford’s campaign manager and helped lead the party to three successive majority governments, has also been critical of Poilievre for failing to pivot his campaign to focus on U.S. President Donald Trump.

When asked about Teneycke’s comments at Queen’s Park on Monday, Ford said, “Sometimes the truth hurts.”

“He’s the best campaign manager in the country and to be very frank, if Kory was running that campaign, I don’t think Mr. Poilievre would be in the position he’s in right now,” Ford said, adding that there is “still a lot of time left” in the election campaign.

“At the end of the day, the people will decide which way you want this country to move forward.”

With files from CTV News national correspondent Rachel Aiello and Spencer Van Dyk.