Some Canadians thought the prime minister crushed it, while others took exception to some of host Stephen Colbert’s rhetoric
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.
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.
“Our PM @JustinTrudeau / His fans are only outnumbered / By his ideas,” the psychologist, author and polarizing media commentator wrote in a Haiku-style post.
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