Western Standard - August 10, 2023


Trudeau's “Backpfeifengesicht” face


Episode Stats

Length

3 minutes

Words per Minute

182.41043

Word Count

728

Sentence Count

67

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

1


Summary

Justin Trudeau posts a picture of himself with his son, and the reaction is immediate and intense. What does it say about the relationship between a father and his son? And what does it mean for the rest of their relationship?


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Well, we're going to change from kind of federal government to Trudeau more personally.
00:00:05.540 So everyone knows Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregor Trudeau split.
00:00:12.700 They put out kind of at the same time simultaneous statements that I think were very, you could tell there was a lot of communication strategists behind this.
00:00:21.460 The deal was already arranged to make it as neat as possible.
00:00:26.100 And in there, they included a very reasonable and humane plea for privacy for their families that we try to, you know, keep, try not to make the personal political here.
00:00:39.360 And the media more or less do normally respect that, at least for liberals.
00:00:43.900 Liberals' private lives are generally considered more or less off limits.
00:00:48.780 But then, and we're going to have to bring a picture up here.
00:00:52.380 I think it was about two days later, Justin Trudeau posts this picture of him and his son.
00:00:59.660 I didn't even know what his son looks like.
00:01:01.220 He has appeared in photos.
00:01:02.420 It's not like they've been totally sequestered and hidden, but haven't really been trotted out too much.
00:01:06.720 To Trudeau's credit, you know, he hasn't used his kids as props too much, at least that I've seen.
00:01:12.120 But then he trots out his son as a prop here.
00:01:14.460 And they're both dressed in pink.
00:01:17.120 And, you know, it's labeled Team Barbie.
00:01:19.120 And, I mean, it's fine to go to see Barbie.
00:01:21.940 I was disappointed I could take my daughter to see Barbie here.
00:01:24.840 My wife took her instead because I had to watch the baby.
00:01:29.080 But, you know, it's fine.
00:01:32.680 You really want to see Barbie?
00:01:34.800 Out of all movies I could watch with my daughter in a theater, it looked like a funny one.
00:01:38.900 It probably had its moments.
00:01:40.120 Like, if you're going to go to a movie theater with a six-year-old girl, I mean, you could probably see worse.
00:01:46.160 You could probably see worse.
00:01:47.060 It sounded kind of funny with some jokes that are, you know, go over the heads of kids, but we'll meet in an adult.
00:01:53.940 So, no problem with that.
00:01:56.140 But just, I can't put my finger on it, but it was just the look of him.
00:02:02.920 I've used this term for Trudeau before.
00:02:04.480 We have a word in German for it.
00:02:05.880 It's very hard to pronounce, but Bekfeifengeschichte, which translates roughly a punchable face.
00:02:13.540 And he just had such a punchable face in it.
00:02:18.700 That smug.
00:02:19.760 That smug little, whatever else you think about it, was very clearly sending some kind of message, using his son as a prop, like, less than 48 hours after he makes a plea for privacy.
00:02:33.060 And it just reminded me of, you know, Harry and Meghan Merkle touring around the media, going on Oprah, screaming, please respect our privacy.
00:02:44.000 You know, just kind of like that South Park episode and Harry and Meghan's privacy tour.
00:02:49.780 Corey.
00:02:49.960 Well, yeah.
00:02:51.860 I mean, you know, stop, you know, give us our privacy.
00:02:55.800 And they're holding signs and marching in front of the cameras.
00:02:58.320 Yeah.
00:02:58.620 And within two days, there he is.
00:03:00.020 And it wasn't a case of he'd gone to the theater and some individual had taken a picture with their camera and posted it.
00:03:05.440 This was a staged, posed, hey, look at me.
00:03:09.100 But, you know, it's pure Trudeau.
00:03:11.500 It's pure.
00:03:12.420 It has to be about him.
00:03:14.000 It's that shallow, you know, all eyes on me.
00:03:17.820 Look at me.
00:03:18.380 I'm the dad going through a separation.
00:03:21.460 You know, somebody on social media pointed out an interesting thing.
00:03:23.800 You know, maybe his messaging was actually more petty than that.
00:03:26.140 Even it was actually directed towards Sophie.
00:03:27.820 Hey, I got him for the weekend.
00:03:29.600 Look what I'm doing.
00:03:30.540 That's speculation.
00:03:31.560 But you see, when you're going to play that game and you're inviting that speculation.
00:03:34.720 Well, that's the problem.
00:03:35.040 Yeah, you invite it.
00:03:35.840 Just, you know, you have your personal pictures.
00:03:38.120 I have pictures with my kids.
00:03:39.760 I do my political stuff on Twitter.
00:03:41.420 And, boy, I invite the backlash and the headaches.
00:03:43.660 But I don't post my family pictures on there.
00:03:45.540 I post them in other areas where I'm sharing with family.
00:03:49.200 He's choosing to expose that.
00:03:51.480 It doesn't mean it justifies hostile reactions or attacks against his kids.
00:03:55.260 But it also says, dude, your request for privacy was more than a little overblown.