There have been all of these moments of clarity, or so I hoped, for American voters. “Moments of clarity” probably isn’t the right way to describe it. There are these moments where Donald Trump truly exposes who he really is and it’s a perfect storm of f–kery, white supremacy, racism, sexism, what have you. I’m thinking about the “very fine people” press conference after Charlottesville. The press conference he did in Iceland where he took Putin’s side over American intelligence agencies. This week, there was another moment: he ordered the police, Secret Service and military to tear-gas and flash-grenade peaceful protesters (mostly teens and some clergy) so he could do a photo-op with a Bible in front of a church.
Those images have gone around the world. America has been the laughing stock of the world for three and a half years. Other world leaders are making more effective and substantial statements about George Floyd, systemic racism, social justice and Black Lives Matter. And some world leaders just let an unexpected moment of silence say everything. So it was with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. He was doing another press conference outside the PM’s residence and he was asked about the situation with Trump tear-gassing American citizens.
Justin Trudeau’s pause says a million words… pic.twitter.com/qo6wJ75DBI
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) June 2, 2020
Twenty-one seconds. That was the length of the pause. I said on Twitter that the pause said “Black Lives Matter,” but honestly, I don’t know. I’m not sure he did it on purpose, or if he was truly trying to gather his thoughts and figure out just what to say about Canada’s unhinged, fascist Southern neighbor. “We all watch in horror & consternation what’s going on in the United States. It is a time to pull people together, but it is a time to listen.” Yeah, Bigly doesn’t listen. He’s famous for not listening to a g–damn thing.
I’m not trying to be gross, but the image of Trudeau wearing a face-hugging mask is very sexy to me? I’m into it.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
This was perceived very differently in Canada, I think. A way for JT to pretend he’s taking a stand while really saying very little.
It’s being interpreted negativity by certain people in Canada.
Yes, Ali, “certain people” in Canada are interpreting it negatively. Not particularly good people.
Exactly, only “certain people” took it negatively. Those are the same people who interpret everything he says that way. We do have our fair share of “certain people” up here in Canada, as well.
Myself, I believe that his silent moment spoke volumes; it said everything that he wished he could have said out loud, but could not. And I think it was intended that way.
I agree. It came off as performative if anything.
Performative is exactly the word I was thinking. Mr. Blackface is suddenly so woke. It’s easy to criticize Trump (especially when all that involves is not saying anything and being applauded for it), but what has he truly done to improve things in his country?
I don’t know, a lot of my friends thought it worked (deliberate or not). I mean, what the hell are the words? Think about how until just four years ago that question would have been in a bad Hollywood movie, not reality.
Sadly we still have trading partnerships and protests or not, millions of Americans….Millions…Still support the fascist orangutan. If something doesn’t change in November, Canada needs to cut as many ties as we can. With all love and sympathy to the Americans fighting back and the BLM protestors…fix this in November or, well, I just don’t know.
@MIA4S At one point 80% of all Canada’s trade went to the states. I hope the numbers are better now.
As a Canadian I am afraid that trump would try to invade Canada. How would Canada defend ourselves against it?
People truly have no idea how bad this situation can get really quickly.
And, yet, here I am in Canada, being messaged by male coworkers in the tech industry saying “did you see Trudeau’s bitch slap to Trump!? It was awesome!”
We have plenty of our own problems to sort out. We have horrific things in our history AND our present that are happening that should never have taken place. But the Canadian’s that I’ve seen complain about this are the same Canadian’s that would complain about ANYTHING he does. Many of them are the same Canadian’s who support racist rhetoric and were all against face coverings in public when it only affected “the others” and not their white asses.
Erinn, you’ve said pretty much what I was going to say. People who don’t like Trudeau are going to complain about this just because it’s JT who did it. (I’m not a mega fan but let’s be honest, compared to Trumpelstiltskin he’s freakin’ Mother Teresa.)
We definitely do have issues in Canada – here in Quebec the premier actually commented that he doesn’t believe there’s any systemic racism in the province, which WTF – but I have no issues with Trudeau’s silence. I think he sent a message without actually having to utter a word.
The people who hate Trudeau are going to criticize everything he does. Most of the rest know that we don’t have the military power to tell the orange monster off and our trade links are very intertwined. Our food supply is linked to them as well.
Besides it’s up to Americans to fix their own mess. They are the ones who voted him in and the supplicant GOP around him. We can only watch in horror.
@erinn agree totally
@ladymtl -agree re Trudeau’s silence being effective. Re Quebec yeah, I read that comment from Legault and my eyes rolled completely back in my head. I remember in the late ‘80’s early ‘90’s there were a spate of shooting/other police brutality against young black men in Montreal including in the NDG area where I was going to undergrad at the time. Around that time my ex, a friend and her then boyfriend were coming out of a comedy club in downtown Montreal. My friend’s boyfriend at the time was African Canadian. Police raced up to us, grabbed him and threw him up against a cruiser. After much upsetting conversation where they initially refused to believe he had been with us in the comedy club, they let us go and one said “sorry, there was a report of a black guy who mugged someone down the street.” My friend got naively brave and piped up “so any black guy will do?” and got called a n-lover. Of course the fact that we were English and the cops were French didn’t help. Quebec has to turn a blind eye to systemic racism as it’s so entrenched in the pure laine identity there. Now there’s a lot of talk about not being racist but the xenophobia is sadly deeply ingrained. Quebec is so very progressive in so many ways it’s sad that this is a blind spot.
agreed @Erinn. I think he was trying to stay measured and look calm or Prime Ministerial or whatever while searching for the words to say. I am sure his team has brainstormed responses, and he was selecting them. If he had given a little head tip, a deep breath, or some other non verbal communication we often do when we are measuring our words it would have read as more authentic. He knows his message will be seen globally, and he was cautious but honest and messaged the sentiments most of us are feeling.
I appreciated it.
Well said, Erinn. I feel the same way – yes, I would love for Trudeau to call out Trump, but I can’t think of a way to phrase it that wouldn’t end up with “Trudeau obliterates Trump!” headlines followed by reports that focus on just this exchange, not the issues, and give both sides falsely equal weight (Trump responds he’s not a racist etc).
Re Quebec; Legault really has a lot of nerve. We literally have language police ffs.
Please don’t speak for the people of Canada. The majority of Canadians are happy with how PM Trudeau is handling the pandemic and President Trump. No matter his personal views, the PM represents Canada in speaking to our long time friend and largest trading partner, the US. He must speak diplomatically to preserve the relationship and not cause the President reason to retaliate because you know he would. The PM’s words were well chosen and thoughtful in keeping the focus on Canada. There are the minority of Canadians who dislike the PM and will find fault with anything he does who perceive his words differently.
Exactly. People I’ve spoken to, who don’t care about Trudeau one way or the other, thought that it was the right tack to take. He was gathering his thoughts to be as diplomatic as possible as not to piss off Trumplethinskin, because he has to look out for and protect Canadians’ jobs, as well as Americans’ — that’s how juvenile Trump is, and gawd-knows what he would do in retaliation. So he took that time to reflect on our own problems here, which he addressed more fully in the House of Commons later. I saw nothing wrong with it, and he was in a damned if he does/doesn’t situation. It ticks me off to no end that this is how Trump has to be handled, with kid gloves, but you also have to look out for the economy with our biggest trading partner. We all know what Trudeau thinks personally, and perhaps that was reason for the pause, but you can’t take that risk when cameras are on you. He was looking out for jobs, and I personally can’t fault him for that. And I’ll take a leader who will take the time to parse his or her words carefully before speaking, before one who won’t.
Yes we’re happy with JT’s performance during the pandemic, but we can also recognize that this silence was a bit performative mixed with unpreparedness for a question that was absolutely going to be asked.
Of course we’re in a tough position whenever we criticize the US because the POTUS is acting like tantrumy toddler. It’s also difficult to criticize the US when we had our own demonstrations this week to ask for an investigation following the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet during a police intervention. But it’s ok to side-eye our PM’s reaction too
Exactly, @Joanne. Well said.
@ARPEGGI
It was 21 seconds.
You tell me what could have been said in 2 seconds.
Trudeau is not an idiot.
He lost a majority government and he knows anything he says will be analyzesd and he has to then repeat the statement in French.
THIS x 1,000,000
I dont think it was deliberate. I think he was maybe trying to come up with something eloquent/nice/prime-ministery to say? I mean we all know Trump has no filter and lets anything he wants to say fly out of his mouth.
Well I’m Canadian and I can assure that’s not how everyone feels. I think he always takes a second on a subject like that to gather his thoughts. That’s what a leader does, not just spewing out the first thing that pops into your head. Unless you’d prefer someone talking out of their butt like Donald.
There are keyboard crusaders here who think Trudeau should support Trump and some who say the pause proves Trudeau is scripted (they’ll criticize him not matter what). The majority here appreciate that our PM is choosing his words carefully.
Our southern neighbour, who has way more military power, is our biggest trading partner and has the most coronavirus infections is run by an unhinged lunatic. Managing tantrum prone toddler Trump must be a full time job for some world leaders. However, the international community *should* come out against Trump if this escalateds, just like they would if the US was a third world dictatorship.
That’s the opinion of you and your friends maybe.
I took it positively. The silence was the statement. It was poignant without causing unnecessary backlash.
But I guess if you are a whining Conservative looking to b*tch about Trudeau no matter what, you might complain about it like that. Sure.
Scheer is an American Citizen so maybe he should be criticizing his president And Rempel is parliamenting from her husband’s place in Oklahoma so maybe she can say something too.
As an American, that’s how I took it. I’m sure he has to be very careful and tread lightly but it would have felt good to see a leader from a free nation to stick up for us.
Unfortunately, Trudeau has to work with Trump for a few more months and worse case scenario another few years.
If Trudeau has to remind people he is the prime minister of Canada and should never have to comment on a US president gassing his own people for a photo op.
I am now waiting for Donald Trump to announce he wants an investigation launched in to Canada’s collusion with Russia, or that C19 actually originated in Canada, or something.
No to four more years of this.
As my Prime Minister the ultimate in SHADE and STOOSHNESS.
Hahahahahahhaha that’s my Prime Minister y’all.
BLM.
Poor Nagini had a bad day yesterday. Her crush Justin wouldn’t support Daddy’s racism; those priests and bishops were all so ungrateful for her staged photo op with Daddy after she went to all that trouble to find that Bible and order those teenagers tear gassed and run over by horses; guys at the Pentagon quit over it and the Arlington police refuse to do their job and beat protesters; people said her Max Mara bag was tacky; the press found out that she’s the one who planned it. She will just have to fire someone today to recover from it all. Will it be Mark Meadows or Hope Hicks?
I’ll predict Hope Hicks. I’ve read in more than one place that she was the one who suggested the photo opt.
Hope suggested nothing; nobody listens to her. Ivanka is the Queen of Bad Photo Ops but she will blame this on Hope.
That Ivanka thought a photo like that would be in any way, shape or form helpful to Trump is just astoundingly clueless. But something tells me she’s not processing how terribly it backfired, just like her dad who so pathetically tweeted, “people liked my walk.”
If she knew how to accurately read a room, she never would have suggested it in the first place. She really does live in a dress-up fantasy land, playing at government like I used to play house as a kid.
Ivanka has no idea how to read a room. She believes herself a princess, beloved by all, and we peasants should be so grateful that she constantly uses our tax dollars to make videos of herself walking into rooms. Last week, she posted a picture of herself at a desk with dozens of framed pictures behind her. Every single one of them was of herself, taken at our expense on one of her never ending taxpayer funded vacations
Lp, Do you really think she thinks she’s beloved (other than by the MAGAs, none of whom who she would ever associate with in real life) or is she just trying really hard and hoping it will someday come true?
@Esmon, I really do think she believes that. I think she is as bad as her father, if not worse, quite possibly worse. I don’t follow on her on Twitter because I won’t give her the satisfaction of the number but I do check her feed constantly. It is endless pictures and videos of her photo ops as “STEM Girl” or “Jobs Czarina” or “White Savior of all the Brown or Black Female Entrepreneurs in the Southern Hemisphere” that she first tweets herself, then has the White House and various federal agencies tweet, and then retweets of all those tweets, followed by tweets of news articles about her at whatever the photo op is, followed by retweets of federal agencies retweeting the same stupid article. She really believes her own brand. And the dog whistles are deafening.
Haha WORD.
Definitely Meadows. Babyfists won’t give up Nagini or Hicks until one of his wrists is already in the handcuffs.
That’s interesting. His pause was interpreted negatively in a number of European outlets (as in “it took him 20s to come up with a response that does not even explicitely condemn Trump.”) But this could also just be a case of “lost in translation” – the cultural significance of a silence lasting that long being lost on foreigners. Would love to hear how posters from other countries perceived this.
His pause was also interpreted as some kind of political statement in other European outlets.
JT wasn’t even holding a neutral expression when he was gathering his thoughts. I don’t know if he couldn’t or if he even partly chose to do that just to express what he couldn’t say, but that man was full on cringing and didn’t hide it.
I find it interesting and am curious to see where he goes in the future with his statements regarding DTs actions. Because we know this isn’t the end of it. And he has to work with him. And be wary since we share a border. What a tightrope he will have to walk for the good of his people.
Also. He’s probably missing Obama these days as much as we do. I hope he has him on speed dial to vent.
IDK what the hell to think anymore about Trump and the current awfulness here in US.
I hate all of it.
My first thought was Good for JT. What the hell can he say? Damned either way.
Considering that Merkel gave Trudeau and all other G7 members an out by simply saying she wasn’t coming,Trudeau had cover to make a more substantive comment . However he Amy Klobuchared his remarks, they upset and care about something just not sure what and who.
For Merkel it was a very very direct reaction. Sabotaging Donnies G7 plan hurt him probably more than Trudeaus ( very good) speech.
I watched this live and it was pretty shocking, 21 seconds of dead air during a live press conference. On the other hand, I wish he had said something stronger, silence isn’t enough.
I honestly thought there was an audio delay….I was watching the interpreters at the bottom and thought maybe there was a tech glitch, mostly because I didn’t see any emotion on his face. And because of that it’s hard for me to appreciate what he was (or was not) trying to say. Maybe if he had sighed or given any kind of expression….but it looked like a person waiting for audio to catch up?
we also thought our connection had failed! then he had a couple of false starts and we realised it was still live.
I have to say 21 seconds of dead air is an eternity, and that silence said everything, because really, what can he say? As people have mentioned above, Canada is hugely reliant on the US for trade and there’s a giant shared border, so as much as he’d like to outright condemn him, and while ethically he should, politically he can’t. I think the pause was the ethical message that he couldn’t say. Plus, it’s kind of nice to see a politician actually think about their words, even if some may say it was a performance.
Also, and totally superficially, I love the salt and pepper beard
I agree with you entirely, I am most proud when Mr. Trudeau shows restraint with calm words and a calculated response. Silence says plenty – as someone who works with Americans but lives in Canada, I get asked all the time “what we think” and I say nothing, cause I feel like it says all I need to say.
This reminds me of his (JT) response to the masks earlier in the pandemic, where he just said, it will be sorted out, and it was, or what he said when Trump was first elected.
I know people don’t like him, but I think that’s because they don’t understand the tight rope he has to walk with the unhinged president he is dealing with.
I’m generally a Trudeau supporter but am convinced those 21 seconds were him trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t get his black face escapades thrown back at him.
I was thinking the same thing ! He took his time answering VERY carefully.
He did address that later in the HoC.
100%. From a PR point of view, he’s not well placed to be the Government’s face of anti-racism given his history of blackface (yes, yes, for which he’s apologized). He can’t avoid media questions but he can keep his remarks short and let a team of ministers – Caucasian and POC – be the spokespeople for the working group or whatever the plan is now.
It’s a sad day when Lea Michele is held to a higher standard of criticism for supposedly speaking out against White Supremacy than Justin Trudeau.
Silence is not enough. The deaths are too many.
Do you think this pause was pre-planned? He must’ve known this question was coming…. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall during his prep meeting.
I do wonder about this as well — I really do feel it really was the only way he could say anything without that unhinged fool hiding in his bunker deciding it was time to nuke Ottawa.
It’s not really his place to blast the president on air. Sometimes saying nothing at all says so much.
The last part of the reporter’s question, ‘and what message does your refusal to answer the question send.’ I thought JT looked almost angry at the second part of the reporter’s question.
In his position I’d have to pause for a bit in order to avoid saying something really, terribly bad. I saw his silence as a huge statement about how he really feels. Words aren’t necessary when dealing with 45. There really aren’t any appropriate ones to use, if I’m being honest.
“Don’t call Trump a racist lardass, don’t call Trump a racist lardass, don’t call Trump a racist lardass…” for 21 seconds.
As a Canadian, I am more impressed by the way he pivoted the answer to talk about the problem that we have and that he flat out named that Canada has a systemic racism problem. Why should he have to comment on another country’s leader? He is the PM of Canada, and his focus should remain on us. His silence and his words struck me as ballsy.
The problem with a pause of that length is that people will fill in the silence with their own interpretation. As a former drama teacher, I think Trudeau would be aware of that, and I don’t think he would intentionally have used a pause *quite* that long. So, I do think it was spontaneously that long.
The criticism of Trudeau that I don’t quite understand are the people who said that his response was mealy-mouthed or vague for *not addressing Trump directly.* No, he did not answer the question “what do you think about the violence Trump is pushing on his own fellow citizens,” but in my opinion, as well as the need to be diplomatic, his response was essentially, “people in glass houses…” Because the fact is, Canada has very recently used a national police force decked out in military gear to suppress indigenous protestors. So I understand why Trudeau did not call out Trump. But if he deserves a criticism for what he did say, it’s that his actions belie his words. Things could and should change much faster in Canada when it comes to removing racial injustices.
Tried to edit but it wouldn’t let me. I wanted to clarify my words because I wasn’t happy with my first post. I think my brain is still trying to parse out the significance of “the pause” and the words that came after.
What my edit would have said is:
The criticism of Trudeau that I don’t quite agree 100% with is the criticism that his response was mealy-mouthed or vague for *not addressing Trump directly,* because I think there were practical reasons for his decision not to name Trump directly that make his choice understandable. In my opinion, as well as the need to be diplomatic, his response was essentially, “people in glass houses…” Because the fact is, Canada has very recently used a national police force decked out in military gear to suppress indigenous protestors, and this was not the first time. So I understand why Trudeau did not call out Trump. If he deserves a criticism for what he *did* say, it’s that his actions belie his words. Things could and should change much faster in Canada when it comes to removing racial injustices. And there are plenty of people making that criticism.
I think it’s fair when the criticism comes from the angle that he hasn’t dealt with racism in Canada well and especially the indigenous issue. The problem is that the loudest complainers tend to come from the right wing side where they are just straight up racist themselves and let’s all talk about that barbaric practices hotline that Harper wanted to set up.
Legault and Ford were absolute idiots to say there is no systemic racism in Canada. Indefensible.
Speaking as a Canadian: that was no bitch slap.
The PM planned that pause and response out of sheer narcissism in an ongoing petty fest w POTUS.
The PM has bigger fish to fry… namely, racism in Canada and a global pandemic that is sickening/ killing/ putting in poverty his fellow Canadians!
This is a troll. No Canadian would treat Trump as “POTUS”. Also, Trudeau did adress racism in his country as soon as he started speaking after the pause.
I do think the pause was an intentional way to say something without saying what he wanted to say. He’s too experienced as a public speaker to be at an unexpected loss of words for that long.
Face it, he’d be criticised for whatever response he had.
Canada is in a very difficult position about how to manage relations with a country it relies heavily on for trade, and which can steamroll all over it at a madman’s whim should Canada make the wrong step. For the first time since early colonial days, the US is a real threat to Canada. Trudeau has to be very very cautious.
I’m ok with his 21 second pause.
See, I’m torn. On one hand, I can see him doing it intentionally like the TV networks down here did. But as that it comes off as showy and out of place. But I can also remember a few months ago he was being accused of some things that would make anything he said come across as tone deaf. As a politician, his words hold weight and he could have been lost for how to phrase what he wanted to say. But for that it was too long a pause. And I just ran out of hands didn’t I?
I’m a Canadian. I just watched this. I usually vote Liberal or NDP depending on the leader and that party’s chances… All that being said, I am disappointed by this. He should have been prepared with a statement condemning Trump’s actions. You can tell in the video, with the “umms,” the shifting, and look on his face that the pause was a result of his unpreparedness.
And if not condemning the actions of Trump and other USA leader outright, then he at least should have had acknowledged how Canada also has its own systemic issues with racism. But of course he wouldn’t, because since the beginning of his time as Prime Minister that’s what he’s been most criticized for. So for him to say anything acknowledging that would be him accepting his complicity.
That silence wasn’t intentional and it wasn’t in solidarity. I am disappointed.
@Mtec: “then he at least should have had acknowledged how Canada also has its own systemic issues with racism.”
But Trudeau did point out the system racism in Canada. That’s what he said after his pause. “It is a time for us as Canadians to recognize that we too have our challenges…There is systemic discrimination in Canada, which means that our systems treat Canadians of colour, Canadians who are racialized, differently than they do others…” His pause was 20 seconds, he spoke for 2 minutes on the Canadian context.
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1745421379773
@Livvers
Thank you very much for sharing that. Like I said in my previous comment i had only just watched this and only seen that speech for that moment, i should have sought out the whole video before commenting. I’m glad to now know he did address those issues we have here. I just hope he practices what he preaches.
@Mtec I understand. Most of the clips found online are focused on “the pause” and were prepared for an international audience so they didn’t include his full comment. And we can still look critically at him for the gap between his words of acknowledgement and the actual actions of his government.
I still think even in light of that gap, it is useful that he addressed systemic racism in Canada, based on the number of commentators and politicians like Rex Murphy and Doug Ford, who spent the last two days saying “not in Canada!” There are Canadians out there, not ill-intentioned (in their minds) but ignorant, who got to hear their Prime Minister acknowledge systemic racism in Canada.
International audience here: In Germany the whole video was published, not only the 21 seconds of silence.
@Allie That’s interesting to hear! I would like to say I have a typo up above – it should say “Most of the clips _I_ found online” – but actually I just wrote in haste. The videos I watched on CNN, BBC, and the above one do cut off before Trudeau’s complete comment – they cut off where he talks about it being a ‘time to listen’ but don’t cover his point about systemic racism in Canada, or include the reporter’s follow-up. And that makes sense to me, as in the context of “Trudeau refuses to comment on Trump,” the rest of his comment might not be considered newsworthy by the video editors.
Somewhat unrelated, I am a little surprised by the volume of international press the “pause” is getting. Do you think the video is newsworthy for different reasons from country to country?
I’m sorry but when did Trudeau become hot? The beard, Oh wow.
To me his response following the pause indicates that he had thought about how to answer the question. His words flowed smoothly after the initial pause. I do not like repeated rhetoric “it’s time to listen etc…”. No it was time to listen a hundred years ago at least and now the time is for action. I do, however, appreciate that he redirected his analysis to our own racist legacy and continued racism in Canada. I think it’s important not to condemn our neighbors like we don’t have our own problems to examine. I would prefer to have a leader who condemned the president but I do not understand the implications of such an action in terms of diplomacy. I am a rabid left winger but I appreciate Trudeau’s efforts during covid. There are things I could call him to question on but I think he has done a fine job under circumstances of great stress.
I think he was probably trying to come up with something that was polite yet somewhat condemining without offending Orange BabyFists. Iit’s easy for us to say how we feel, but a PM/President / King / Queen (no matter which country) has to think things through before speaking. In this particular case and Canada being a neighbouring country of US and having so many economical interchanges, he needs to be careful. Trump is a lunatic who keeps cutting economical relations with other countries.
He’s so delectable. I know I will get hit on this because he’s centrist, but I really want to sex that man. After all, I’m a neolib myself! HOT neolib sex, just what the doctor ordered!
Pretty much everything Justin Trudeau does is sexy because the man is a such a sexy super hot mega fox, including wearing a mask. Nothing gross about it.
That pause. I think he was trying to collect his thoughts and not doing it for effect. But it certainly was noticeable.
Sun Tzu
This was the only thing that has made me laugh all week. I don’t know if it was performative, or if it was real, or what it was, but his face kinda showed what we are all thinking. I’ve been screaming about the current administration for years, this week is just like …. I have no words.
Not saying anything was the best he could say imo. Canada is far too intertwined with the USA for it’s Prime Minister to just go off on Trump. He’s not just an individual with political thoughts – he’s the face of a country and has to to be diplomatic.
I just read a tweet that said ‘Canada must feel like it lives in an apartment above a meth lab’
We can attribute that to Robin Williams, and it’s true. I can look over Juan de Fuca Strait to Washington State from my balcony on Vancouver Island. Seeing the US from a vantage point of serenity, watching the Olympic Mountains in the distance, then thinking about the utter sh*t-show happening that close to us, seems so surreal. Justin Trudeau handled the question perfectly. It showed the vast difference between a thoughtful, non-judgmental response that included Canada’s own problems with systemic racism, and a sociopathic nutbar shooting his mouth off at everyone who disagrees with him. A pregnant pause can say much more than a string of vitriolic attacks. It’s called diplomacy.
I agree. I thought during that pause he looked so sad. I thought he was right to acknowledge Canada’s own problems with racism, but not attack Trump outright. Trump is so unhinged at the moment that Trudeau, whose job is to think of all of his own people and their wellbeing, could be placing them directly in the firing line. Trump doesn’t seem to have any actual thinking in his head, that you could rationally negotiate with. You just have to be careful. I think the sad pause while searching for words, followed by the acknowledgements he made, showed both humanity and leadership. I think while as individuals we might speak out more critically, sometimes our responsibilities call for a different approach.
One of the reasons I appreciate CB so much is because I get more information and context sometimes than I would if I’d read about Trudeau’s pause in an article on CNN. I feel like he absolutely should have expected that he’d be asked about it and so he probably had planned both the pause and the response, but I’m very grateful for all the Canadians pointing out that he can’t absolutely slag off Trump, both because of Trudeau’s and Canada’s own history of racial problems and because Canada and the US are heavily entwined economically and politically and he cannot afford to injure the country he is leading. Thank you to all the CBers who pointed out the nuances. It would have been much more satisfying to me and others if JT had excoriated Drump, but it might not have been the right thing to do, and at least JT addressed racial injustice in Canada.
No Kaiser, you aren’t being gross. He is rather fine – with or without the mask.
He was just careful in how to word it and had to consider not to offend – protestors..racism ..African Americans.. Americans in general..business relations and most of all baby dump trump.
Justin Trudeau paused not because he was being careful. He paused because he was asked a question that didn’t have a prepared answer on the teleprompter. Yes, he had to come up with something to say (or at least to give his writers something to come up with) that delicately addressed the question but let’s just call it for what it was. Him not being prepared…yet again. This guy is a puppet and everything he does/says is to please the public. He has no original thought or any passionate conviction for anything. I feel like this truly isn’t being seen simply because of the douche canoe running the USA and the idiotic vitriol spewing from his mouth and keyboard. Also, I just don’t see the hotness. Yeah, is he infinity times better than Trump but other than that.. meh.
The U.S. is Canada’s biggest trading partner
New NAFTA isn’t ratified yet, afaik so Trump could sh*t the bed on that still
Canada isn’t morally right on the treatment of BIPOC (and LGBTQ2 people since it is pride month)
Trudeau himself isn’t squeaky clean on race. Do I think he’s trying, sure, but those pictures will haunt him FOREVER.
So he can’t really directly critique Trump. The pause was probably planned to let the silence speak for itself.
To this black American, those 21 seconds of silence were balm to the soul, a statement of support to the freedom-fighting people of the US. Doesn’t matter to me if Trudeau’s silence was planned or unplanned because, here at home, sometimes there are just no more words.
Balm to the soul or another slap in the face?
You maybe didn’t hear what LRobb said?
Deliberately obtuse, hey @Ms_The_Tea ?
You know the saying: “when fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.”
I see a lot of people here critisising Trudaeu and I dont know but it seems… weird. Like, if u dont like his politics fine, but if its because he is not perfect (which some of the stuff in the comments read as), its just stupid. From an outsiders perspective (Denmark) he is a perfectly legitimate leader. Is he perfect? No. Is he human? Yes.
The right wing idiots who hate him will create a big hoohah and whine endlessly about his vague comments. I see no problem with how he responded to the question. I found myself speechless when I realised the phrase “I cant breath” is what most covid patients have been saying in a documentary I was watching. Its a distressing time and watching the 24hrs coverage of police brutality makes it all worst.
I don’t think Trudeau is that great an actor to be ‘performative’. You could tell he was going to say something and then thought better of it. It’s been obvious that there is no love lost between Bunker Baby and Trudeau for several years. It’s also interesting to see someone think before speaking and to be intelligent in his word choices. You know he wanted to rip into Trump, but thought it best to be diplomatic.
Can I just be distracted by his quarantine hair rn and not think about anything else?
Conservatives hate every word that does or doesn’t come out of his mouth and will criticize every single thing.
Was it planned? Was it preformative?
I’m sure we won’t ever truly know. To me it doesn’t really matter.
What matters is having a PM who is measured and actually thinks about the impact of his words.
He has been out there every single day talking to Canadians and taking media questions, as are the Ministers.
The last PM (he who shall not be named) muzzled everyone in government and wouldn’t talk to the media. I don’t even want to think about the state we would be in if Andy has one.
Would we have all loved him to come out and slam drumph and say what he really thought? Sure In the moment. But what would that have achieved for either Canada or the US in this moment or the long run.
Yes, Just yes. Cons will criticize anything and have no productive agenda. I voted Ndp but I’m happy with how the libs have been handling the pandemic and trump.
@odessa nguyen
I’m the same, I voted NDP and they won my district but he and the Libs have handled this well.
I don’t think anyone agrees with or is giving him a pass on him wearing blackface multiple times. It was wrong. There is no excuse for his actions.
A leader who acknowledges mistakes and attempts to do better is preferable than one who takes no responsibility or criticism.
Or leaders like Legault and Ford who stand on stolen land and claim there is no racism in Canada.
LOL, too bad he didn’t pause to think longer than 21 seconds when he put on blackface for the 3rd time (that the public knows of). 100% performative BS.
ccolspray>> Cause u never did anything wrong, never learned and never apologized. Congratulations for being a perfect human.
Are you not concerned that they haven’t tabled the budget and aren’t even sitting in parliament until September ? It’s a joke that he does a press conference outside of his cottage everyday. Nobody is holding him accountable for the spending he’s doing. And it’s your kids who will be paying for this joke of a PM. He isn’t a leader. He is a puppet. And call me whatever you want but if I’m at work there is no reason for these parliament workers to not be working and supporting their communities. Which none of them are.
So anyone who wants to end violence and looting on the streets is a fascist? Meanwhile every Democrat Governor and Mayor in the U.S, has shut down churches, shut down private businesses, limited private gatherings to fewer than 10 people, limited what can be sold in a business and took other measures to suppress travel, commerce and movement and they are not fascists? Pretty fuc*ing ridiculous! Oh and by the way, they are encouraging thousands of people to stop social distancing and gather by the thousands on the streets to commit looting and mayhem. Oh, and they have not reopened churches, businesses and allowed other people to gather. They are the fascists. Just like the leftists have ALWAYS been the fascists in world history.
Our PM has worn black face more than two times so forgive me if I don’t have a lot of respect when he speaks for “all” Canadians. I guess I’m one of the “ you people” you catty ladies are talking about. Our PM is not a good person.
Oh but the alternative is SO much worse like truly and completely, and that has to count for something. At least his party doesn’t represent bigotry like the conservatives, who would love you to turn on Trudeau’s party. I’m over here in Alberta absolutely DISGUSTED by conservative Jason Kenney’s use of Trump’s “fanning the flames of hate and racism” rhetoric.
He has to be careful what he says or Trump will throw a tantrum and seek revenge on Canada. Remember when he got all vengeful over the farming deal because Justin had some words about him when speaking to the press? He actually became vengeful. People were talking about how our bad US relations are going to impact Canadians. That’s why he has to tread lightly with him. This is not a normal potus we’re dealing with here.
Better than the arselick we have here in Australia. Just yesterday he was giving a list of things he liked about Trump.