What is wrong with this guy?
Fresh off lecturing a young woman to say “peoplekind” instead of “mankind,” Canada’s pretty boy Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped in it again, this time insulting the entire nation of India during his boondoggle of an eight-day family workcation.
Twitter lit into Trudeau, 46, this week, for wearing over-the-top, traditional Indian attire that appeared at once desperate and condescending. Sherwanis; kurta shirts; an awkward outfit straight out of central casting for a Bollywood bridegroom.
“It’s a kind of reverse colonialism to want to mimic the ‘native’. Doing a kurta number as a salute to a culture is one thing, but Justin Trudeau’s display of trousseau like repertoire of multi-coloured kurtas has begun to grate,” wrote Indian political consultant Dilip Cherian.
“Offending garments include Trudeau’s long, multicolored sherwanis, usually worn on special occasions such as weddings or in Bollywood movies,” wrote The Washington Post’s New Delhi correspondent, Vidhi Doshi. “Trudeau wore a sparkling gold one to a meeting with Bollywood’s top brass while the film stars wore muted black suits. Add to that the Canadian first family’s posey, soap-opera style namastes, and it’s enough to keep social media here buzzing with memes and jokes.”
Hilariously, when Trudeau met with Bollywood stars in Mumbai, they wore black suits. He, well, did not.
Trudeau, ever one to have his finger on Twitter’s pulse, looked the part of a Prime Minister on Thursday, donning a suit.
One wonders whether the Canadian leader, on his next visit to Washington, D.C., will play the part of George Washington, and wear a blue wool coat and breeches.