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Andrew Scheer's Tweet About His "Middle Class" Childhood Is Getting Torn Apart

The replies came after a Liberal MP used the hashtag #ScheerWasSoPoorThat.
Andrew Scheer | Instagram

Leading up to Canada's federal election in October, Andrew Scheer has contrasted his childhood with Justin Trudeau's. Scheer has talked about how his family struggled with money, while Justin Trudeau grew up the son of a former Prime Minister and inherited a million dollars from his father. Despite Andrew Scheer's net worth being fairly high, he still alludes to his family's financial struggles. After a Liberal MP tweeted with the hashtag #ScheerWasSoPoorThat, Andrew Scheer took to Twitter himself and said he grew up "middle class."

Liberal MP Gagan Sikand wrote, "#ScheerWasSoPoorThat he had to buy his conservative values second-hand from Stephen Harper." The tweet has since been deleted, but Scheer posted a screenshot of the tweet and replied, "Like millions of Canadians, I grew up middle class. When Trudeau’s Liberal MPs mock me for that, they mock you too."

It has been previously reported that Scheer's father, who worked for the Ottawa Citizen, could have been earning nearly $66,000 a year by the time of his retirement. His mother could have also been earning $55,000 a year as an experienced Registered Nurse. While Trudeau grew up in a prominent political family, Scheer's own family easily earned more than the median income for Canadian families, which StatsCan found was $70,336 in 2015.

Twitter users responded both positively and negatively to Andrew Scheer's tweet. There were a number of users who appeared to support Scheer's statement and criticize the Liberals.

On the other side, there were a number of Twitter users calling out Andrew Scheer for claiming to be middle class during the 80s when he lived in a relatively comfortable financial situation. Some of the people who replied shared their own experience growing up in the 80s middle class to contrast Scheer's experience.

The Canadian federal election will take place on Oct. 21. Andrew Scheer will be taking part in the Maclean's/CityTV and Munk debates, to be held on Sept. 12 and Oct. 1, respectively. 

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