Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she “had a great time” at the controversial PragerU East Coast Gala.
The premier posted to social media late Thursday night, saying she had a “meaningful” fireside chat with Ben Shapiro about the Canada-U.S. trade “dispute” and the benefits of removing tariffs.
“I will always stand up for the best interests of Albertans and I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to share our message with hundreds of Americans tonight and thousands more via social media in the weeks to come,” the post read.
Smith has come under fire for her decision to fly to Florida for the fundraising event at PragerU, a conservative content company that has been criticized for minimizing the harms of slavery and climate change.
The event was hosted by Shapiro. The media personality has expressed support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed annexation of Canada, and has been labelled by critics as a right-wing “extremist.”
“At a time when Canadians are encouraged to spend their tourism dollars in Canada and the Governor of Florida is insulting tourists from Canada, Danielle Smith will be fundraising for a far-right online platform with extremist Ben Shapiro,” Naheed Nenshi, Alberta NDP leader, said earlier this month.
“For US$1,500 a ticket, Danielle Smith will share the stage with a man who said Arabs ‘live in open sewage,’ blamed a young black man for his own murder, insulted trans people endlessly and has denied climate change repeatedly.”
The Daily Wire, the media outlet founded by editor-in-chief Shapiro, features content with headlines such as “World leaders plot ways to destroy civilization at climate summit,” “The origins of the anti-human depopulation agenda” and “Senate dems block born-alive abortion survivors protection act."
Smith has defended her decision, saying Shapiro believes the U.S. should lower tariffs and that she has been encouraged by federal officials and other premiers to use her connections in the U.S.
Her office maintains her participation at the event is part of ongoing advocacy efforts to sway U.S. decision makers and the American people.
On Friday, Smith’s post said her Alberta’s message was shared with hundreds of Americans at the event and will be shared with “thousands more via social media in the weeks to come.”
The event was not livestreamed and was closed to the press, according to a statement from PragerU to The Canadian Press
Smith’s press secretary said PragerU will be sharing video of Smith’s interview with Shapiro and PragerU CEO Marissa Streit. Nothing had been posted as of Saturday, and it’s unclear when -- or if -- Albertans will get to know the entirety of what Smith said there.
The trip came as Smith faced criticism for comments made during an interview with right-wing U.S. media company Breitbart.
In it, she said she asked Trump officials to pause tariffs until after the election because they were creating an advantage for the Liberals and said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would be more “in sync” with Trump’s perspective.
With files from Lisa Johnson and The Canadian Press
