This was no slip of the tongue.
Social media lit up with harsh criticisms of outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he was caught on camera sticking his tongue out while exiting the House of Commons on Monday with his chair, as is tradition for departing MPs.
Photographer Carlos Osorio snapped the image for Reuters and shared it to X.
“What a childish man,” Rebel News publisher Ezra Levant wrote. “That’s a real photo. That’s really what he’s like.”
Former British Columbia Conservative Party spokesperson Dean Skoreyko shared past instances of Trudeau’s tongue out, calling it a “weird tongue fetish thing.”
Another pointed out that the photo would be one of his last images as prime minister.
“Really, you want that to be your parting picture,” wrote Andrea Aldridge. “I’m shocked you didn’t show more disdain. What a gross PM he’s been, and I’m being kind.”
Others alluded to the time Trudeau darkened his skin as part of a racist costume for an ‘Arabian Nights’ party while he taught at a Vancouver private school in 2001. He stuck his tongue out, knowing full well that he was being photographed.
“That is the same face he makes whenever he wears blackface,” one critic wrote.
In October 2023, Trudeau winked and flashed his tongue as Greg Fergus was elected Speaker of the House of Commons.
Many more people called the photo “bizarre,” “classless,” and “embarrassing.”
“Hey Canadians, this … tongue sticking out of Trudeau’s mouth is to mock all of us,” wrote one observer.
Some, however, found humour in the image of the outgoing PM.
“The chair must be practically like new as it didn’t get very much use over the past ten years,” one person wrote.
“That was an incredible shot. It captured the man and politician perfectly — one for the history books,” another commented.
While one user said: “I am Very Happy he still has a sense of humor (sic). I Love it!”
The 53-year-old Trudeau announced his resignation as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party on Jan. 6. On Sunday, the party voted Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, as the next Liberal leader and prime minister.