In resurfaced video, Danielle Smith ties vaccinated Albertans to those who fall for tyrants

Danielle Smith, Alberta's UCP leader, is apologizing for past comments on talk radio and podcasts after a video resurfaced Sunday on social media in which she suggests the 75 per cent of the public who received a vaccine fell for the "charms of a tyrant," specifically referencing Adolf Hitler.

The clip came from a podcast published on Nov. 10, 2021, before Smith became premier, with the Calgary-based Integrated Wealth Management and its founder, Andrew Ruhland.

The podcast is more than 90 minutes long and the relevant section is found near the end, where the conversation turns to the subject of scientific and medical consensus.

Ruhland, who said he is the son of Dutch immigrants who survived World War II, claimed Canadians' personal liberties were being violated by public health rules. He was not wearing a poppy during the podcast, recorded a day before Remembrance Day, which Smith noticed.

"They ruined it for me this year," Smith said of poppies. "The political leaders, standing on their soapbox, pretending that they care about all the things you just talked about.

"Pretending they understand the sacrifice, and not understanding that their actions are exactly the actions that our brave men and women in uniform are standing against."

WATCH | Smith in a podcast ties vaccinated Albertans to those who fall for tyrants:

Smith then mentions the Netflix series How to Become a Tyrant, specifically referencing the episode featuring Adolf Hitler.

Smith recalled an academic saying that so many people would say that they would not succumb to the charms of a tyrant or somebody telling them they have all the answers.

"And he says, 'I guarantee you would,'" Smith said.

"That's the test here, is we've seen it. We have 75 per cent of the public who say not only hit me, but hit me harder, and keep me away from those dirty unvaxxed."

The NDP quickly seized on the video Monday. Speaking at a campaign event focused on seniors, NDP Leader Rachel Notley called Smith's comments "utterly horrifying."

She said Smith was referencing the 75 per cent of Albertans who followed scientific advice, as well as requests made by public health officials, "to protect themselves, their neighbours and Alberta's most vulnerable citizens and everybody who needed our hospitals."

"She's comparing those Albertans, 75 per cent of them, to the architects of an antisemitic genocide," Notley said.