Tongue-tied Trudeau butt of Sharpton’s joke
American civil rights leader Al Sharpton took a shot at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while speaking Thursday to reporters.
Answering questions from a CBC Radio-Canada reporter outside George Floyd’s memorial service at North Central University in Minneapolis, the controversial Baptist minister took a dig at the PM’s long pause Wednesday while being questioned about threats made by U.S. President Donald Trump about unleashing the military on rioters.
Sharpton said it’s a “new day in America” and that the moment for change has come, expressing his desire to echo that sentiment during Floyd’s eulogy.
“And since you’re from Canada, I won’t have a 21-second gap before I say what I have to say,” he said before concluding the interview. Trudeau’s painfully awkward pause to collect his thoughts caused a sensation, becoming fodder for columnists and pundits across North America.
Hundreds of mourners turned out for the service in Minneapolis Thursday, while in New York City, thousands attended a memorial event for Floyd in a Brooklyn park.