Downfall of Trudeau exposes the hypocrisy of woke politics

After years of carefully cultivating an image, it has emerged recently that the sun does not, in-fact, shine out of haloed Justin Trudeau’s backside. The liberal Boy Wonder’s reputation has taken quite the battering over the last year – that’s why we see so much of that well-practised face he pulls where his famous big blue eyes look like they’re about to well up. Boo-hoo.

Oh, I know, we’re supposed to be all sad about his downfall. It’s like watching a cute but half-witted puppy get a kicking for burrowing around in the bin bags again, but the exposure of insincerity is a beautiful thing. I’ve had my fill of Trudeau and his tediously phoney photo-ops. Trudeau hugs a panda, Trudeau is down with the youth, Trudeau poses with his hands in a heart against a pink backdrop. Ugh.

I’ve heard it said that his tarnished reputation is bad for all liberals. Spare me. Liberalism is a substantial philosophy with a deep intellectual foundation that inspires a diverse range of ideological interpretations. It’s sad that this airheaded frat bro should be perceived as one of its most important global ambassadors. His politics is an ode to superficiality. His liberalism is shallow, typified by his virtue signalling in-your-face wokeness.

Time Magazine published a photo from a 2001 private high school yearbook which showed the 29-year-old Trudeau, then an English teacher at the school, wearing blackface for an “Arabian Nights” themed party. Yikes.

Still, a forgivable error of judgement on the night perhaps? Maybe not, for just hours later a photo of him in blackface from his own high school yearbook went public too. Then, to add to the cringe factor, another photo emerged from the “Arabian Nights” party with dear Justin in blackface – plus his turban and robes – besides two Sikh men. Facepalm. Then, another video of him in blackface was published by the Global News.

To top it off, Trudeau also admitted that in high school he sang Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” in blackface for a talent show. Good God almighty, Justin.

The puppy dog, weepy eyes were out in full force for the apology. “I shouldn’t have done that. I should have known better, but I didn’t and I’m really sorry,” he said. He added: “It was something that I didn’t think was racist at the time, but now I recognise it was something racist to do, and I am deeply sorry.”

I don’t think Justin Trudeau is racist. I just think he’s rich and entitled. His decision to mimic ethnic minorities in a manner that has a long – and notorious – racist tradition was breathtakingly thoughtless.

He is merely a son of privilege who has spent years building a brand to make up for the fact he doesn’t have the depth of character or the intellect of his legendary father, Pierre Trudeau.

His image really began to unravel with his 2018 family trip to India. Never mind his clumsy diplomacy, what sticks in the mind is Trudeau flouncing around dressed like a patronising caricature of an Indian drawn by someone who knows nothing about the country but has seen some Indian wedding photos. The cringeworthy photo of him pressing his hands together in mock piety was peak Justin.

His exposure as a husk was inevitable.

His successful Liberal Party election campaign in 2013 was noticed around the world as Trudeau posed in Vogue and had interviews with the New York Times. He became a global celebrity and the darling of the liberal left.

When he was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister, he stood beside the 15 women and 15 men of his cabinet. A reporter asked him why he felt gender balance was important, pausing only for a moment, Trudeau replied, “because it’s 2015.” And a million hands slapped him on the back.

It was a line reported all over the world. For that, he can thank his adviser Gerald Butts. Of course, they’d had it all planned out – everything about Trudeau’s brand was planned and created. In discussions beforehand, Butts had told him, “I think just calling people’s attention to the year is all you really need to say.”

From then onwards, the memeification of Canadian politics went into hyperdrive. Trudeau was a daily feature of every Canadian’s Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter account as his stage-managed political career went from strength to strength. But Justin Trudeau the politician and liberal hero is hollow.

On the day he was sworn in with his 50/50 cabinet he also stood by the newly appointed justice minister and attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould. She was the first indigenous and only third female politician to hold that position. This year, Trudeau was accused of bullying Wilson-Raybould into helping SNC-Lavalin, a Quebec-based engineering company, avoid a corruption trial in order to avoid hurting his electoral chances if they relocated.

So here we have the self-declared feminist, champion of transparency, defender of minority rights, Mr rainbow socks himself, throwing his ethical code out the window in sleazy pursuit of his political goals. In Wilson-Raybould’s four-hour testimony, Trudeau was well and truly kicked off his moral high ground as she claimed that the way she had been pressured by Trudeau included “undeniable elements of misogyny”.

It has been pure political poison for the brand in an election year. Four more years? Probably, but let’s not have four more years of fawning over a phoney who makes liberalism look superficial and hypocritical. He bedazzled Canada with clever marketing and celebrity stardust, but now his star is fading, can we have people of substance standing up for liberalism please?

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