Donning blackface to applauding a Nazi: Trudeau’s 5 biggest blunders as PM
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he will step down as the country’s leader, capping off nearly 10 years in office that included a handful of public blunders and controversies.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide competitive process,” Trudeau told reporters Monday. “Last night, I asked the president of the Liberal Party to begin that process. This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.”
His resignation comes after pressure from his own party, the Liberal Party, mounted over his handling of the economy and immigration.
Fox News Digital took a look at Trudeau’s years in office and compiled his top five biggest blunders that sparked condemnation from Canadians and other nations.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his resignation outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday. (AP/Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Trudeau lambasted for wearing ‘blackface more times than he can remember’
Trudeau found himself in a scandal in 2019 after photos surfaced of him wearing blackface in 2001. The prime minister said in an interview after the fact that he could not give a definitive number on how many times he had worn blackface.
“Darkening your face, regardless of the context or the circumstances, is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface,” he said in 2019.
CANADIAN MP SLAMS TRUDEAU FOR ‘BLACKFACE’ WHILE ACCUSING ‘PATRIOTIC’ FREEDOM CONVOY OF RACISM
“I should have understood that then, and I never should have done it.”
Justin Trudeau (Arlyn McAdorey/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)
One photo from 2001 showed Trudeau at an Arabian Nights-themed gala wearing brownface. He also admitted that while in high school he wore blackface while singing the popular Jamaican song “Day-O.” In another instance, video footage from the 1990s showed Trudeau in blackface. The prime minister said at the time he could not recall how many times he wore blackface or brownface, a comment that haunted him in the following years as right-leaning lawmakers unleashed on Trudeau for his handling of the coronavirus in the 2020 era.
“I will ask the prime minister, who may I remind this House wore blackface on more times than he can remember, apologize to the peace-loving, patriotic Canadians who are outside right now,” Conservative Member of Parliament Candice Bergen said of Trudeau in 2022 while demanding that he apologize to protesters who spoke out against the country’s strict coronavirus mandates.
Police and protesters are shown in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on Feb. 18, 2022. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Trudeau slams ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters while lauding BLM
Canada had some of the strictest coronavirus mandates and requirements in the world, including making vaccinations mandatory in federally regulated workplaces, shutting down businesses for months and arresting citizens if they violated lockdown protocols.
In response to the lockdowns that disrupted the economy and day-to-day life, Canadians staged multiple protests across the country in 2022. Known as the “Freedom Convoy,” thousands of 18-wheelers and other trucks traveled to cities, as well as the Ambassador Bridge between Canada and Michigan, to protest vaccine mandates.
Trudeau slammed the truckers and protesters as spreading “hateful rhetoric” while heaping praise on Black Lives Matter, which was at the forefront of the “defund the police” protests that rocked the U.S. in 2020.
TRUDEAU SLAMS ‘FREEDOM CONVOY’ FOR ‘HATEFUL RHETORIC,’ PREFERS TO SUPPORT BLM PROTESTERS
“I have attended protests and rallies in the past when I agreed with the goals, when I supported the people expressing their concerns and their issues. Black Lives Matter is an excellent example of that,” Trudeau said in 2022.
“But I have also chosen to not go anywhere near protests that have expressed hateful rhetoric, violence toward fellow citizens, and a disrespect not just of science but of the front-line health workers and, quite frankly, the 90% of truckers who have been doing the right thing to keep Canadians safe, to put food on our tables. Canadians know where I stand. This is a moment for responsible leaders to think carefully about where they stand and who they stand with,” he continued.
The Freedom Convoy protests were reported as being overwhelmingly peaceful by local media.
Pastor jailed, businesses rocked during COVID
Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski was repeatedly arrested, fined and imprisoned for breaking lockdown measures during the pandemic, sparking fierce condemnation from Christians and others worldwide.
In one viral video from 2021, police in Alberta were seen arresting and charging Pawlowski for “organizing an illegal in-person gathering” during Holy Week ahead of Easter.
“Shame on you guys, this is not Communist China. Don’t you have family and kids? Whatever happened to ‘Canada, God keep our land glorious and free’?” Pawlowski told the arresting officers.
Amid his legal battles, Pawlowski slammed Trudeau for his arrests.
CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST CANADIAN PASTORS WHO HELD SERVICES DURING PANDEMIC: ‘PLEASANTLY SURPRISED’
“I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to worship as I see fit, free to stand up for what I believe is right,” Pawlowski told Fox Digital in 2023. “Should we throw all of that out and move to Saudi Arabia? I think Justin Trudeau would fit in perfectly over there. Or maybe North Korea would be better for him. He loves dictatorship. I’ll buy him a ticket. Go, please enjoy it.”
Restaurants and other business owners in the country were rocked by lockdown orders, including some businesses bucking the mandates and opening their doors during the pandemic.
In Toronto, one restaurant owner was seen handcuffed by police for defying the orders in 2020, while other business owners launched lawsuits at their government for imposing mandates on businesses during the pandemic.
A report published in 2023 found an increase in restaurants that filed for bankruptcy as they dealt with a “post-pandemic hangover phase,” the CBC reported at the time.
Trudeau admonishes US voters for not electing a woman president
Trudeau, while describing himself as a “proud feminist,” admonished U.S. voters for electing President-elect Donald Trump after his decisive win over Vice President Harris in November.
“We were supposed to be on a steady, if difficult, march towards progress,” Trudeau said in December. “And yet, just a few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second time to not elect its first woman president.”
TRUDEAU DECLARES HIMSELF ‘PROUD FEMINIST’ AFTER LAMENTING HARRIS LOSS TO TRUMP AS SETBACK FOR WOMEN
“Everywhere, women’s rights and women’s progress is under attack, overtly and subtly,” Trudeau continued. “I want you to know that I am, and always will be, a proud feminist. You will always have an ally in me and in my government.”
The remarks came after Trudeau’s meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Trump reportedly suggested to Trudeau during the meeting that Canada become the 51st state and has since publicly referred to Canada as such.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognize Yaroslav Hunka, who was in attendance and fought with the First Ukrainian Division in World War II before later immigrating to Canada, in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sept. 22, 2023. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press via AP)
Trudeau apologizes for honoring Nazi veteran
The Canadian Parliament came under fire in 2023 when members gave a man who fought for the Nazis a standing ovation. Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were both present in parliament when the man, 99-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, received applause.
CANADA UNDER FIRE FOR APPLAUDING ‘LITERAL NAZI’ IN PARLIAMENT DURING ZELENSKYY VISIT
Hunka, a Ukrainian-Canadian who fought in the SS Division Galicia for the Nazis, was invited to Parliament to attend Zelenskyy’s address to government officials. Members of Parliament from political parties on either side of the aisle stood and applauded Hunka for his military service before news broke that he fought on behalf of Nazi Germany.
Trudeau apologized for the embarrassment, while the speaker of Canada’s House of Commons stepped down for inviting Hunka.
“This is a mistake that deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada,” Trudeau said at the time.
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“All of us who were in this House on Friday regret deeply having stood and clapped even though we did so unaware of the context,” he added. “It was a horrendous violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust.”
