Feelings take precedence over facts in PM's CNN interview

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OTTAWA — It’s not me, it’s you.

That was the message Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had for Jake Tapper during his Thursday afternoon interview on CNN when the PM was asked about his historically-low approval rating.

In Washington to attend the state funeral of President Jimmy Carter, Trudeau rebuffed Tapper’s implications that his impending defeat — much like President-elect Donald  Trump’s recent election win — signals voters have had quite enough of left-wing governments and left-wing policy.

“There are a lot of feelings involved,” Trudeau replied with a slight smirk, insisting Canada isn’t feeling the effects of out-of-control inflation, affordability and tax-heavy governance.

“Our economy is doing very well, but when someone’s paying $8 for a head of lettuce, it doesn’t matter that your doing better than Spain, or somewhere else,” he said.

Thursday’s CNN appearance was Trudeau’s first sit-down interview since last month’s explosive resignation of former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland — an event that set off the chain of events that lead to his promise this week to step down.

Trudeau has refused to speak with any Canadian reporter since then, even going as far as cancelling all year-end interviews — except for a chat with the CBC comedy program This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

When asked about advising his successor, who according to Tapper could be “Wayne Gretzky” or “Christina Freeland,” on dealing with Trump, Trudeau said collaboration must be key.

“Understand that the ‘win-win’ is what we need,” he said.

“We do better when we work together. Yes, the American president has the capacity to hurt the Canadian economy, there’s no question about that, but anything an American president does to hurt the Canadian economy will also hurt American consumers, American workers and American growth.”

Instead of blaming his unpopularity on what’s being regularly reported in opinion polls for well over a year, Trudeau put the blame on “right-wing” ideological attacks and online disinformation campaigns.

“When you get an intersection of right-wight attacks and social media, you end up with a lot of disinformation,” Trudeau said. “Responsible governments have to stay focused on the policies that are making a difference, and that’s what we’ve been doing,”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
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