Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign for re-election suffered a blow yesterday when three separate instances of the candidate appearing in blackface surfaced.
Trudeau’s Liberal Party confirmed the authenticity of two of the photos. A third instance of Trudeau in a racist costume is in a video that shows someone believed to be Trudeau “covered in what appears to be dark makeup and raising his hands in the air while laughing, sticking his tongue out and making faces.” That video was also acknowledged by the Liberal Party as being authentic.
The first photo that surfaced was from an “Arabian Nights” party in 2001 at a private high school where Trudeau was teaching at the time.
Exclusive: Justin Trudeau wore brownface at 2001 ‘Arabian Nights’ party while he taught at a private school, Canada's Liberal Party admits https://t.co/j3UobfYNIF
— TIME (@TIME) September 18, 2019
The media has taken to calling Trudeau’s face color as “brownface.” Looks pretty “black” to me, guys.
Another photo surfaced that Trudeau has also admitted is of the prime minister in a talent show performing a Caribbean-themed musical number.
Trudeau apologized and threw himself on the mercy of the voter. “I’m pissed off at myself, I’m disappointed in myself,” Trudeau told reporters traveling with him on his campaign plane.
“I should have known better then but I didn’t, and I am deeply sorry for it,” Trudeau said. “I’m going to ask Canadians to forgive me for what I did. I shouldn’t have done that. I take responsibility for it. It was a dumb thing to do.”
He said he has always been more enthusiastic about costumes than is “sometimes appropriate.”
Mmmkay. Works for me, Justin. Except in that “Arabian Nights” costume and blackface, you were damn near 30 years old. Isn’t it about time you, like, grew up or something? After all, you are the prime minister of Canada for goodness sake.
Liberal voters shouldn’t fret over this. Trudeau is already being forgiven for his sins. CNN’s Don Lemon bashed Trump while praising Trudeau.
Lemon expressed his pleasant shock that a “leader” would apologize and knocked the U.S. leader in the process.
“Wow, a leader apologizing. It seems odd, doesn’t it?” Lemon reacted. “Because we have one who doesn’t.”
Sorry Don, but you’re full of crap. And he’s done it several times.
Lemon is just full of “forgive and forget.”
“I do have to say this before we go: think about it however you want to think about it. When someone apologizes- wow!” Lemon said to the panel. “We don’t often see that here, especially in a world leader who is saying ‘I should’ve known better and I’m sorry.’ You can feel about it however you want, but that, to me, that does mean a lot.”
Fair and balanced. That’s what I’ve always liked about CNN.
Needless to say, the opposition is trying to make this Trudeau’s Waterloo. Green Party leader Elizabeth May:
I am deeply shocked by the racism shown in the photograph of Justin Trudeau. He must apologize for the harm done and commit to learning and appreciating the requirement to model social justice leadership at all levels of government. In this matter he has failed.
— Elizabeth May (@ElizabethMay) September 19, 2019
Of course, the $64,000 question is how will this affect Trudeau’s chances for re-election? From what’s been revealed so far, it’s hard to say. It almost certainly isn’t a game-changer — unless the blackface photos keep coming and the drip, drip, drip of scandal takes a bigger toll than expected.
Trudeau was already in trouble and was in the fight of his political life. Logically, any negative coverage could be damaging. But there’s still a month to go before the election and there’s plenty of time for the liberal media in Canada to help voters forget about the scandal and re-elect their golden boy.
A previous version of this article misidentified May as a member of the Conservative Party.
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