Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argued Sunday that social media and the political right exacerbated “culture wars and division” to promote an “anti-incumbency movement” worldwide.
MSNBC host Jen Psaki asked Trudeau about his decision to resign, announced on Jan. 6, and whether it had to do with a global trend of turning against incumbent leaders or his own low approval ratings.
Trudeau conceded it was “probably a bit of everything” but claimed there was “still a lingering frustration towards incumbents” from social media influence, despite the good work he had done.
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“Where I lean in on is all the good things we were able to do,” Trudeau said. “We put forward policies that are going to make a difference for decades to come in Canada. And I think right now we’re seeing a time in politics where emotions and social media are carrying an awful lot of weight in how people feel about things.”
Psaki pressed on the criticism that Trudeau’s Liberal Party as well as the U.S. Democratic Party were “out of touch with the public” and whether there could be lessons from his term to counter that perception.
Trudeau urged progressives to stay focused on the economy and touted Canada as a success for ensuring “fewer barriers for minorities and women and vulnerable people to participate in the workforce.”
“You can easily turn that into a woke argument that says, ‘You’re just working for minorities and women, and you’re not taking care of the economy,’” he conceded.
“Well, the capacity of the political right and, quite frankly, social media to gin up that kind of dynamic can fall into culture wars and divisions that actually don’t stand up to the hard economic truth of the growth we’ve been able to create in Canada is part of the challenge we have,” Trudeau said.
“And that’s part of the challenge we’re facing as a world right now where people are very much in a place where affordability, where reasonable answers, where medium- and long-term policies aren’t what they want to hear about.”
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He continued, “They want things to get better right away. And you do have people promising to make things better right away, which is very attractive sometimes, even if the ability to do that isn’t always clear.”
Over the last year, Trudeau began seeing record low approval ratings and mounting criticism from his own party over high prices and rising inflation.
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