There’ll be no polling on the matter, but a quick perusal of social media and comment sections would suggest Canadians are mostly split on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night.
While the anti-Trudeau voices felt the whole thing was “cringey” and an unfair pulpit from which he could preach, his supporters beamed with Canadian pride.
A number of people on X reacting to the roughly 17-minute guest spot called out Colbert for his liberal language, suggesting he took shots at Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
“Flirtations with fascism at the very least is rising across the globe, even in Canada; your Conservative Party leader, your opponent there, has been called ‘Canada’s Trump’ and I’m sorry about that,” Colbert said, asking Trudeau about nativism or far-right xenophobia growing north of the U.S. border.
Conservatives came to the defence of their would-be prime minister, suggesting the interview was scripted to boost a potential Liberal campaign, that Poilievre was unfairly linked to far-right ideologies, and that Colbert is a well-known liberal on the political spectrum whose ratings are suffering.
According to licensed broadcaster Global, between January and June this year, Colbert drew an average audience of 484,000 nightly viewers, not including what is watched through social media channels or other streaming sites.
Interestingly, Colbert’s far-right comment also rubbed some Trudeau supporters the wrong way. They felt the prime minister — who never mentioned Poilievre by name once — danced around the line of questioning with practised ease and represented Canada well.
The prime minister drew more of an audience in the Manhattan TV studio show where The Late Show is filmed than he did for his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the purpose of his New York trip on Monday.
This was noted by Jordan Peterson in a reshared post on X showing Trudeau speaking before a particularly sparse crowd, presumably during a UN meeting regarding the economic and social situation in Haiti.
“Our PM @JustinTrudeau / His fans are only outnumbered / By his ideas,” the psychologist, author and polarizing media commentator wrote in a Haiku-style post.
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.