The Malignant Narcissism Of Justin Trudeau
On the psychopathology of a man who: spreads disinformation while demanding censorship; freezes the bank accounts of people who criticize him; and smears ordinary Canadians as Nazis
Last week, Canadian House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota invited a 98-year-old man named Yaroslav Hunka to attend a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Rota called Hunka a “Canadian hero,” and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cheered for Hunka alongside lawmakers. But Hunka, it turned out, had served in a Nazi unit during World War II, sparking outrage.
In response, Rota took “full responsibility” for the incident, and Trudeau called it “deeply embarrassing.” Trudeau then warned against “Russian propaganda and Russian disinformation.”
Trudeau’s non-apology and dismissal of criticism as “Russian disinformation” is especially hypocritical given his repeated denunciation of the Canadian Freedom Convoy as a Nazi-linked movement.
About the truckers, Trudeau said, “We are seeing activity that is a threat to our democracy, and that is undermining the public’s trust in our institutions.” Trudeau, one day later, compared the truckers to Nazis and American racial segregationists. "Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas,” he said. “They can stand with people who wave the Confederate flag.”
It should not have to be said, but it does: Trudeau had zero evidence then, and none today, that the truckers were racists or Nazis. The swastikas printed on flags at the convoy were not hate symbols — they were intended as criticism of the government’s overreach through a comparison to Nazi Germany. Yet Trudeau condemned a Jewish member of parliament for being sympathetic to the convoy and for supporting “people who wave swastikas.”
Trudeau’s colleagues participated in his conspiracy theory. One Liberal MP said that truckers’ “Honk, Honk” slogan was a coded message for “Heil Hitler.” There was never any evidence for any of this then or now.
As such, Trudeau was spreading disinformation. Naturally, Trudeau has, for the last three years, been accusing others of spreading disinformation and demanding that social media companies like Facebook and Twitter censor the people he disagrees with.
Canada’s political troubles may seem trivial and unimportant. The country is not a significant military power. It has fewer people than California. Its economy is the ninth in the world; California’s is the fourth. Trudeau has just been engaging in the usual progressive rhetoric of accusing his opponents of being Nazis, something both sides do, as the controversy over last Friday’s applauding showed. Many people outside of Canada may understandably conclude that the general awfulness of Justin Trudeau just isn’t very important.
But Trudeau is important, and what he’s doing in Canada should terrify everyone in the Western world who cares about being free from government tyranny, censorship, and disinformation. That’s because Trudeau is pioneering a new way for governments to take control over the information environment — spreading disinformation and demanding censorship — that is similar but different to efforts we are seeing in places like California, Australia, and New Zealand.