Kelly and Ryan and Justin . . . and Kim — did Trudeau forget first female PM?
Social media users react to apparent flub during appearance on popular U.S. morning show
NIAGARA FALLS, ONT.— Is the prime minister in need of a history lesson?
During an outdoor broadcast of Live With Kelly and Ryan in Niagara Falls on Monday, Justin Trudeau appeared to either forget or ignore the legacy of Kim Campbell, Canada’s first and only female prime minister.
Co-host Kelly Ripa asked Trudeau if he wants one of his children to follow in his footsteps one day.
“Definitely not,” he said, refusing to choose which of his three kids would make the best leader. “Although I will say, I have one daughter and there is something very special about imagining a female prime minister. I think it’s long overdue. I just don’t think we have to wait that long. I think it should be sooner than that.”
Following some online backlash — by Monday afternoon, “Kim Campbell” was a trending term on Twitter — Trudeau’s office assured the Star that he had not forgotten about Campbell, who led the Progressive Conservatives, and the country, after Brian Mulroney resigned in1993.
“Of course the PM did not forget that Kim Campbell was prime minister,” Trudeau’s press secretary, Andrée-Lyne Hallé, wrote in an email. “Now that was almost 25 years ago — I think we can all agree we’re overdue after 25 years!”
There was little controversy in the interview itself. For most of its duration, it wasn’t clear who was more star-struck by Trudeau: the audience, or hosts Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. “Dear Canadian diary,” Ripa quipped after Trudeau left the stage. “I have no other words.”
“I thought it would be awkward if I said, ‘You have pretty eyes, sir.’ But I thought it,” Seacrest added.
Ripa and Seacrest first sat down with the PM and bantered with him about his sex appeal and his talent for being caught with his shirt off.
“How does your wife feel about you being named the sexiest politician alive?” Ripa asked.
“My wife’s the one who doesn’t believe it. She’s like, ‘Really?’ She knows what I look like when I get up in the morning,” Trudeau said.
“Is it so different than this?” Ripa followed up. “A little messier,” Trudeau quipped. After giving Trudeau a pair of socks with their faces plastered on them — they said they hope Trudeau will wear them to meet the Irish prime minster, after he was caught wearing mismatched Star Wars socks during his last encounter with an Irish leader — the hosts took to more serious topics after the break.
Trudeau was asked about the relationship between Canada and the U.S., which Trudeau described as “unbelievably deep.” Ripa commented that the prime minister was close with former U.S. president Barack Obama, and asked about his feelings toward President Donald Trump.
“We have a good, constructive working relationship and that’s the important part of it,” Trudeau said. “There’s a lot of things we agree on.”
“Today is World Environment Day. We don’t agree on that because I think there’s a lot of good jobs in the environment that we’re building for. But we both agree that the most important responsibility of a leader is to create good jobs for middle-class people across our countries, and we’re connected on that.”
During a commercial break, the hosts and Trudeau posed for a selfie together, with Seacrest attempting to take the photo before the PM came to the rescue when the TV veteran didn’t frame the shot quite right.
The hosts also interviewed Orphan Black actress Tatiana Maslany about her childhood in Saskatchewan, the last season of her show and where she keeps her Emmy.
The hosts treated the audience of approximately 3,000 at the Oakes Garden Theatre to their usual banter, speaking about their weekends in Niagara — during which Ripa hit the casinos with her son and Seacrest toured the Falls. The duo also visited a local winery.
Tuesday’s episode, pre-recorded on Monday in Niagara Falls, will see appearances from musical performers French Montana and Swae Lee, as well as two Canadians: America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel and Cars 3 star Nathan Fillion.
This is the syndicated show’s third visit to Niagara Falls, with the first coming in1996 when it was Live With Regis and Kathie Lee, followed by a 2006 return trip after Ripa had joined Regis Philbin as co-host.
Seacrest joined Ripa as permanent co-host last month.
Live airs Monday to Friday at 9 a.m. on CTV.