A reversal of fortune： Trump and Trudeau
Episode Stats
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182.13007
Summary
In contrast, just a year ago, if you listened to a lot of media voices, you would have thought President Donald Trump was destined to be impeached or incarcerated, and Justin Trudeau was on top of the world. Well, not so much anymore.
Transcript
00:00:07.980
Lab scam ramping up, and the Mueller investigation wrapping up.
00:00:15.260
What a curious study in contrast. What a reversal of fortune.
00:00:19.040
You know, just a year ago or so, if you listened to a lot of media voices,
00:00:22.680
you would have thought President Donald Trump is destined to be impeached or incarcerated or what have you.
00:00:27.520
And Justin Trudeau, he was on top of the world.
00:00:29.800
He'd be Majority Prime Minister for another couple of terms.
00:00:33.080
Well, not so. In fact, it could almost be the opposite now.
00:00:37.240
Donald Trump cleared in his investigation in the Mueller probe for Russian collusion and obstruction of justice.
00:00:43.520
Something that, who knows if it will guarantee him re-election,
00:00:46.020
but it's certainly going to help him in the polls and help him with voters.
00:00:49.420
Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau losing a lot of support from the electorate,
00:00:53.080
losing support from his own cabinet, losing support from caucus.
00:00:56.740
More and more people calling, saying obstruction of justice.
00:01:08.940
And will there be criminal charges against somebody in the Prime Minister's office?
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One, two, or three people surrounding this matter?
00:01:16.120
You'd think if they could muster 31 charges against Mike Duffy,
00:01:20.460
they'd be able to find a handful, at least, for this affair.
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And when you compare it, when you put it all together, it's very curious.
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And I keep going back to this line that Mark Cuban said that Kevin O'Leary said
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Because the office of the Prime Minister is more powerful than the office of the American President.
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Not that Canada has greater weight or leverage in world affairs than the U.S.,
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but the offices, when you compare them, you see what they have and what they can do and what they don't do.
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there were a whole lot of committee hearings and things that were going on
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that the American President just didn't necessarily have control over.
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well, it's completely within the right of the Prime Minister
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to appoint who he wants to be a chairman of a committee,
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the Justice Committee, say, the Ethics Committee.
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And while the Prime Minister doesn't directly oversee every decision that these committees make,
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the fact that the cover-up vote moved so quickly
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and that the Liberal MP shut down the Justice Committee
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As for the public inquiry, why haven't we seen one yet?
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Because it's up to the Prime Minister to call one.
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So we have two different examples that look at the different powers of the Prime Minister and the President.
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We also look at what they can do and choose to do.
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Donald Trump could have closed things down and fired other people.
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And there's a lot of breathless conversation in the American Commentariat
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about whether Trump is imminently going to fire this person or that person,
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and what it will mean and how there would be people running for the exits
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and crying for impeachment unlike ever before if that happened.
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And Donald Trump let this investigation proceed,
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even though he was clearly unhappy with it, didn't like it,
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called it a witch hunt, and said there was nothing to see here, folks.
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Justin Trudeau has likewise said that these whole reports about LAV scam are false.
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The allegations in the Globe story this morning are false.
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Neither the current nor the previous Attorney General
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was ever directed by me or by anyone in my office
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People on the Justice Committee, Randy Bossineau,
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likened this to fake news and likened this to a witch hunt.
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And for the other side to engage in some sort of rank amateur speculation
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that somehow one corporation is going to move the government of Canada
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Donald Trump not shutting down those probes, not firing anyone.
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Justin Trudeau having these committees shut down.
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Really interesting place that we found ourselves in.
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Who knew a couple years ago that this reversal of fortune would have taken place?