Trudeau rendered speechless for 21 SECONDS when asked about Trump's army threat against George Floyd protests
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on Tuesday, June 2, was rendered speechless for 21 seconds when he was asked about President Donald Trump's plan to use the military to control George Floyd protesters and the use of tear gas to clear the way for the commander-in-chief for a photo op in Washington. After a long pause, Trudeau said that Canadians were watching in "horror and consternation" as the current events unfold in the United States. Country-wide protests against police brutality ensued in the US after Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in police custody.
The Canadian leader, over the past few years, has been careful not to criticize Trump as Canada relies on the US for at least 75 percent of its exports. However, Trudeau, who is generally quick to answer questions directed at him, took a heavy pause and appeared to struggle to come up with the right words to describe the current situation in the US after reporters asked him about Trump calling for military action against protesters.
However, in his address on Tuesday, Trudeau avoided a direct mention of Trump, and said: "We all watch in horror and consternation at what is going on the United States. It is time to pull people together. But it is a time to listen, it is a time to learn what injustices continue despite progress over years and decades."
The nationwide protests in America came as four Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's brutal death were fired on May 26 after a video of the incident went viral on social media. The footage showed Floyd pleading with officers as one of them, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck while the 46-year-old told them to let him stand because he could not breathe. The clip showed Floyd pleading with the officer to allow him to breathe and a few minutes later he became unconscious. Floyd's death has sparked massive protests and unrest in Minneapolis and across the country. Chauvin, 44, was arrested last week on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter.
The Canadian leader also pointed out systemic racism in his own country, and urged for the citizens to be allies in the fight against discrimination.
"It is a time for us as Canadians to recognize that we too have our challenges, that black Canadians and racialized Canadians face discrimination as a lived reality every single day," Trudeau said. "There is systemic discrimination in Canada which means our systems treat Canadians of color, Canadians who are racialized differently than they do others. It is something that many of us don't see but it is something that is a lived reality for racialized Canadians. We need to see that, not just as a government, and take action, but we need to see that as Canadians. We need to be allies in the fight against discrimination. We need to listen, we need to learn, we need to work hard to fix."
On Trudeau's unprecedented pause before his statement, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, Nelson Wiseman, told Time Magazine: "Clearly, Trudeau was not expecting this pointed question. I think he was considering whether to respond at all, which could have been taken to mean he was not going to criticize Trump. His comments are a criticism of Trump without naming Trump."