« Caught in a landside, no escape from reality ».
A small red light should have lit up in the Prime Minister’s entourage when Justin Trudeau sang the mythical verse of the Queen group on Saturday evening, in the lobby of a chic London hotel.
Justin Trudeau indeed seems stuck in quicksand, caught up in reality.
A star
The reality is that the Trudeau recipe, that of the star politician, has reached its limits. You will tell me that it has been a long time, and you would not be entirely wrong.
The fact remains that the prime minister is polarizing more than ever.
Otherwise how to explain the planetary outcry caused by his prank in London.
His supposed lack of decorum does not explain everything.
Could we imagine French President Emmanuel Macron or German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pushing the song like this? Of course not.
That said, our sense of decorum is not that which prevails in the major European capitals, nor even that which prevails in the United States.
There was a time when Justin Trudeau could afford this kind of prank and come out of it almost unscathed.
Let’s not attempt comparisons with the wacky staging of his trip to India. On this, there was unanimity on the perfectly ridiculous side of the thing.
Image
The short video of her karaoke party with Gregory Charles two days before Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral has gone viral.
Personally, I don’t think we should be too offended.
On the one hand, we know little about the context. On the other hand, we are talking here about a moment to gather around a piano.
As inappropriate behavior, we have seen worse, even if the Prime Minister was dressed in a vulgar T-shirt.
That being said, Justin Trudeau must have known he would be filmed.
The lobby of a hotel is not a private space, whatever its entourage may say.
The Prime Minister has used social media extensively for years to build his brand. He cannot now plead the right to privacy for acts committed in public.
He who lives by the image will perish by the image.
To renew
This is precisely where the shoe pinches for the Prime Minister.
Will those around him have the courage to ask the real question: why so many negative reactions for a ditty?
After seven years in power, Justin Trudeau is looking for a way to renew himself.
How to reconnect with an electorate that is increasingly resistant to it?
The Prime Minister’s theatrical style was altogether refreshing seven years ago after the Harper Decade.
Today, it annoys more than it amuses.
The London episode remains anecdotal, despite the vitriol and mockery on social networks.
But this is also the wear and tear of power.