Trudeau’s blackface scandal makes international headlines
The blackface scandal engulfing Justin Trudeau and his reelection campaign has spilled beyond Canada’s borders, with prominent international media devoting considerable space to the Liberal leader’s apology and challenging his global reputation as a champion of progressive ideals.
Newspapers, websites and television stations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and beyond gave the burgeoning scandal prominent play on Thursday, hours after an American news outlet first released a 2001 photo that threatens to upend Trudeau’s re-election bid.
Time Magazine first released the image of Trudeau wearing brownface while clad in a turban Wednesday afternoon. Hours later, Trudeau apologized for the image, taken at a British Columbia private school where he used to teach.
Since then, however, at least two other images have surfaced depicting Trudeau in blackface and drawing increasing attention from international press that once showered him with plaudits.
“Mr. Trudeau has long cast himself as a glittering spokesman for the world’s beleaguered liberals, standing up to (U.S.) President (Donald) Trump, supporting gender and Indigenous rights, welcoming immigrants and fighting climate change and racism,” wrote the New York Times. “... that carefully calibrated image suffered a major blow.”
The tone was similar in many of the outlets that shied away from commentary or analysis in their coverage. Trudeau’s acknowledgment of poor judgment and racist conduct, coupled with his apology for the 2001 photo, was presented alongside his vocal espousement of progressive values and his appointment of a genderbalanced cabinet upon taking power in 2015.
Such accounts could be found in outlets ranging from The Associated Press, The Guardian in the U.K., the BBC, Australia’s Sidney Morning Herald and Al Jazeera’s English service. Elsewhere, however, the coverage fell along more partisan lines.