U.K. newspaper's interview flub echoes Canadian cases of mistaken political identity

OTTAWA — A case of mistaken identity has rocked the final stretch of the New York City mayor’s race , after British newspaper The Times published an area man’s comments, thinking he was ex-mayor Bill de Blasio because the two shared a name, slamming Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.

The mayoral mix-up is also reminiscent of a few recent cases in Canadian politics. National Post caught up with Richmond, Va. marketing specialist Jason Kenney and Erin O’Toole, a radio host and producer based in Greeley, Colorado., to discuss their brushes with celebrity, after being mistaken for Canadian political namesakes.

Kenney says that his first reaction to the tale of two de Blasio’s was wishing he’d made more out of his own 15 minutes of fame.

“There is a certain degree of making me think of missed opportunities. I will say I’ve never had an interview conducted over a ring camera,” said Kenney.

The other de Blasio, a 59-year-old wine importer based in Long Island, NY, was tracked down by reporters on Wednesday evening, after The Times took down and apologized for the bogus story. He wasn’t home when they showed up at his door, but did answer questions through his Ring doorbell, from his current location in Florida.

Kenney said his own experience sharing a name with a federal cabinet minister and later Alberta premier was more of a slow burn.

“The first instance I can remember was all the way back in the early aughts, when I got an email from this sweet old lady, sent to my hotmail account, thanking me for speaking at her church in some small town in Canada,” said Kenney.

Kenney, an early adopter to the digital world, was quick to grab “Jason Kenney” handles on Twitter (now X) and other social media platforms. He says he’d get the odd tweet from Canadians when the other Jason Kenney was still in federal politics, but saw a massive uptick around the middle of 2020, when the then premier of Alberta was navigating COVID lockdowns.

“In 2020 it kind of reached a peak. He was in what seemed like a bit of a no-win situation (and) was getting hit on all sides,” said Kenney.

Kenney said that he was especially piqued by a slew of posts calling on him to resign over his management of the pandemic.

The two would finally meet in person in May 2022 , just days before Kenney the premier was forced to resign over his COVID lockdown policies.

Kenney, who describes himself as a “pre-Trump Republican,” called his namesake a “nice dude” and says it was sad to see him go out on such a low note.

O’Toole also looks back to mid-2020 as her “breakout moment,” albeit for different reasons than Kenney.

She remembers her phone “overheating with notifications” in the summer of 2020, after her Canadian namesake, then running for Conservative leader, debuted the Trump-esque slogan “Take Back Canada!”

It didn’t take long for Canadian news outlets to find her.

“This was during the pandemic lockdowns, and I do think that people were kind of looking for something fun,” said O’Toole.

O’Toole said her namesake’s team reached out to her after she’d made a handful of Canadian media appearances, leading to a one-on-one interview on her radio show.

“I said, well how about would Mr. O’Toole be willing to come on my program? Because I think my listeners would be interested too,” recalled O’Toole.

She would later return the favour by appearing on O’Toole’s “Blue Skies” podcast.

Five years on, O’Toole says she still feels a close connection to Canada.

“At first it had me scratching my head … and then it just became this wonderful experience that I had. Getting to know so many Canadians over social media, people sending me Canadian candy bars. It was amazing!” said O’Toole.

She added that she’s still in touch with some of the Canadians she met through the experience.

“I still have my emotional support Canadians,” said O’Toole.

O’Toole, a veteran broadcaster herself, says that she can’t help but feel for the staff at The Times after the massive fact checking error.

“I have to say that I’m still cringing after reading about that deleted story … that is every journalist’s worst nightmare,” she said.

National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.