, 10.17.2019 09:36 AM

My latest: Trump trumps Trudeau, and why

Justin Trudeau is less popular than Donald Trump.

Say it aloud, so that those still considering voting for Trudeau can hear you.

Because, you know, Donald Trump. The most sexist, most racist, most dishonest US president is more highly regarded than the Canadian Prime Minister. That’s hard to do, but Justin Trudeau has done it.

As far back as March, Trump was doing better than Trudeau. In that month, Ipsos found Trump’s approval rating was 43 per cent. Trudeau’s was 40.

In August, it got even worse. Zogby Analytics revealed that Trump had an approval rating of 51 per cent. Trudeau was “underwater,” Zogby reported, at 43 per cent.

And Toronto Sun pollster John Wright, of DART, has analyzed the data, and come up with the same conclusion as the others. “Trudeau’s personal approval numbers are below Trump’s,” says Wright. “So more selfies won’t help.”

And therein lies the rub. Wright has put his finger on the zeitgeist: this election isn’t remotely about issues. It’s a referendum on Justin Trudeau. And he’s been losing it.

What went wrong? How is Justin Trudeau – once the darling of international media, the beneficiary of Trudeaumania II, and the guy who propelled his party from a Parliamentary third place to first – now facing what HuffPo’s Althia Raj, no less, has declared the “possibility he won’t be Prime Minister much longer.” How did that happen?

Three reasons. The first: he over-promised and under-delivered.

Trudeau did that a lot. On electoral reform, on balanced budgets, on ethical reform, on being the feminist champion and the Indigenous reconciler: in every case, he promised the Earth but delivered only dust.

Trudeau’s true legacy is seen in the LavScam scandal, where he obliterated his credentials as the ethical paragon and liberator of women and Indigenous peoples. There, he cravenly tried to rescue a Quebec-based Liberal Party donor facing a corruption trial – and, along the way, revealed himself more than willing to brutalize two women, one Indigenous, who bravely stood up for the Rule of Law.

Second reason: he thinks he’s far more charming and entertaining than he actually is.

Some time ago, a member of Trudeau’s insular inner circle told this writer that one of their biggest problems was Trudeau’s unshakeable belief that he is funny. “He thinks he’s a comedian,” said this man. “He isn’t.”

Thus, making blackface his go-to party favour. Thus, his puerile penchant for dress-up, even when it humiliates Canadians, as in the infamous Griswolds-style Indian vacation. Thus, his utterly bizarre penchant for making jokes – remember “peoplekind?” – that aren’t merely jokes. They’re jokes that render him one.

Recently, this writer was told by a very senior Grit that Trudeau referred to NDP leader Jagmeet Singh as “Marge Simpson” – presumably a reference to Singh’s turban. (A Liberal campaign spokesman declined to comment about the allegation; an NDP war room member said they were aware of the “joke.”)

Why, why would Trudeau say such a thing? “Because he thought it was funny,” said this Parliamentarian.

The third and final reason that Justin Trudeau is less popular than Donald Trump is neatly, and expertly, mirrored in the Conservative Party’s shrewd attack ad slogan: “Justin Trudeau. Not as advertised.”

That pithy catchphrase, more than anything else, is why Trudeau is plumbing the polling depths, even more than Trump. Canadians have grown to believe that the former drama teacher is, indeed, just an actor.

Donald Trump, as detestable as he is to so many, is at least truthful about who he is. He doesn’t hide it.

Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, wears blackface to parties.

Because he’s never as comfortable as when he is wearing a mask.

29 Comments

  1. Steve says:

    Yup, nothing more embarrassing, for them or those around them, than someone who is absolutely full of themselves: can do no wrong, used to getting whatever they want, on a “mission” to save others from themselves. This is Trudeau in a nutshell. Not an ounce of humility or self awareness, or as a western Canadian friend of mine used to say: “Big hat, big boots…. no cattle.”

  2. J.H. says:

    I know he’s one of your heroes WK but how is Obama interfering in a Canadian election, any different that what he and the Democrats are accusing Putin and Russia of having done?
    Also word is Melanie Joly and the LPC suddenly had to take down a video ad they were using that featured CBC footage.
    Think they’ll be sued?

    • Phil says:

      It isn’t any different unless of course you realize that those things are only wrong when they risk causing conservative wins.
      Not an Obama fan but not a hater either he does have some Justin like qualities in terms of acting to his audience BUT much more substance much more a statesmen. Doubt you’d see him in a costume visit to India for example and he’d not say something as unintelligent about Singh being like Marge Simpson.
      Maybe Justine should develop a beer gut and get a job in Springfield as a nuclear operator. That fictitious part is one he can pull off DOH

      • J.H. says:

        Another report now out there saying that Liberal candidate Nirmala Naidoo also used an ad featuring CBC footage.
        It too has been sent to the head kicks there.
        folks are now asking our state broadcaster when we can expect to see her, Joly and the LPC sued?
        Don’t hold your breath.

  3. Ontario John says:

    National Post asks again today why is Groper giving a tariff exemption to Chinese steel, which is upsetting Canadian steel companies on whether they can compete for LNG projects. And I wonder if Gerald Butts will be upset on twitter again today. For Scheer’s speech in Toronto today, he had workers in yellow vests behind him.

    • Jim R says:

      Not to mention the 2 Michaels who have been abducted by the Chinese government and held in deplorable conditions (no house arrest in a mansion for them). Trudeau has done nothing concrete to secure their release. It’s as if he’s in admiration of the Chinese government. Oh wait …

      [Not that *any* of the campaigning leaders seem to give a flying fig about our abducted citizens]

  4. Pedant says:

    Warren, there is a very real possibility of the Liberals losing the popular vote to the Conservatives but winning the seat count given their greater vote efficiency (in particular, it helps the Libs that Atlantic Canada has more seats than Sask/Man combined despite having fewer people). In fact I would go so far as to say it is the likeliest outcome. An extra f-you to all those who voted Liberal in 2015 to bring about electoral reform precisely to avoid such a scenario, really digging in that knife.

  5. whyshouldIsellyourwheat says:

    Obama spoke at a Canada 2020. His speaking fee is reportedly $400K.

    Quid pro quo.

    What say you Elections Canada?

    • lyn says:

      whyshouldIsellyourwheat: EXACTLY: Elections Canada needs to check not only Obama but Thunberg she is doing the same in Alberta Third Party campaigning! S. Perrault of elections Canada said he would look into it after the election. Why are they not registered before the election…send them home. Interference!!

  6. “Donald Trump, as detestable as he is to so many, is at least truthful about who he is. He doesn’t hide it.”

    Trump recently said, “I’m the least racist person you’ll find anywhere in the world.” Trump shows what he is not because he doesn’t want to hide it, but because he is a profoundly incompetent human being.

  7. Mark says:

    Just a test.

  8. Ontario John says:

    I’m SHOCKED! Shocked I tell you! Gerald Butts has on twitter that the unbiased Toronto Star supports the Liberals in this election. Its among all his tweets that Obama is wonderful for supporting Blackie McBlackface. And the media is reporting that Groper still won’t answer if his team contacted Obama.

  9. mike jeffries says:

    The SNC thing sickens me.
    JT justifies it becuz he’s about “jobs”. So, if that true? Why did JT not deliver? He got a new AG. Why didn’t JT then deliver? Have the new AG give SNC their coveted DPA?
    Because JT is only about empty words. If he forms gov’t Canada deserves him!

  10. Ontario John says:

    Groper’s CBC reports that the Liberals are running ads in Chinese on facebook, that Scheer will allow military assault rifles on the streets of cities like Toronto. Oh my God, soon we will have soldiers marching in the streets.

  11. Ontario John says:

    Justin fan girl Katie Simpson at Blackie’s CBC has been trashing Scheer all day on twitter over abortion and gay marriage. Maybe she should ask questions that voters really care about, instead of issues that were settled years ago.

  12. Martin says:

    Referenced on P and P tonight. Will he lie yet again and his comments about the PMO are hilarious.

    “The party that receives the most seats on Oct. 19 should get the first opportunity to govern, Trudeau said.”

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-justin-trudeau-interview-1.3219479

  13. Ontario John says:

    Blackie McBlackface yesterday was giving his standard rants in Quebec about Harper! Harper! Jason Kenney, Doug Ford! And it seems the Liberals can’t stay out of the new for the wrong reasons. The Globe and Mail reports this morning that documents show that after the second Boeing crash they still didn’t think it was a high priority. And story on a Liberal MP in trouble over a pot startup.

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      Montréalaise,

      I would put it to you this way: Scheer ain’t scary enough to do the damage Liberals need to get re-elected. Strategically, they’ve got a pile of nothing that works effectively against Scheer. That’s why they are positively desperate to have Canadians tune in to the Harper Channel. But it won’t work cause Canadians are more royally sick of Trudeau than scared of private citizen Harper. In short, they’re fucked and they know it. But what else can they do?

  14. Ontario John says:

    Is Justin fan girl Katie Simpson at the CBC getting paid by Blackie McBlackface? Scheer just finished his speech and she right away got into a big fight with him, accusing him of spreading misinformation about Groper and Adam Vaughn.

    • Apparently Scheer said a Liberal-NDP government would increase the GST to 7.5% or eliminate the Social Transfer to the provinces. Sounds like spreading misinformation to me.

      • Fred from BC says:

        “Sounds like spreading misinformation to me.”

        Yeah, just like the Liberal ads accusing the CPC of planning to restrict abortion, or those hilarious NDP ads attacking Elizabeth May for also not defending ” a woman’s right to choose”.

  15. Ontario John says:

    Its a good thing we have Americans to tell us stupid Canadians how to vote. The media is excited that Martin Luther King III is in Toronto, where he urged people to vote for Justin and the Liberals. I’m sure Martin Luther King would have loved to have Justin in blackface march with him in the 60s.

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