Justin Trudeau was the special guest on today’s episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan. The busy world leader paid a visit to the show’s temporary set on the edge of the Canada-United States border in Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was an anticipated taping for the American program, which teased the high-profile appearance at the end of last week. Hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest sat down with the PM to talk about about a myriad of things including the Paris Accord as well as the weekend’s tragic terrorist attack in London, England. Of course, the fluffy daytime show also prodded Trudeau about his famous photobombs, shirtless jogging, and choice of socks.
On America’s controversial decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the Prime Minister echoed previous public statements and expressed serious disappointment with the Trump administration. “Today is World Environment Day, we don’t agree on that, because I think there’s a lot of good jobs in the environment that we’re building for,” Trudeau said. “But we both agree that the most important responsibility of a leader is to create good jobs for middle-class people across our countries and we’re connected on that.”
Trudeau was also asked to comment on the recent terror attacks and how they might affect national security on home soil, to which Trudeau was quick to reiterate that national security is of the utmost concern. “There is all sorts of different things we need to do, whether it’s investing in safety, security, police officers, and investigative national security,” he said. “Whether it’s in creating a society in which we’re there for each other, we lean on each other, we’re resilient enough to handle bad things happening without falling into a bad space.”
It was a brief outing that produced some great PR for the Liberal leader, and was highlighted by ample amounts of selfies and Live-branded stockings. There was one notable gaffe, however, which came when Trudeau was asked if he’d ever want to see his own children become Prime Minister. “Definitely not,” he said. “Although I will say, I have one daughter and there is something very special about imagining a woman prime minister. I think it’s long overdue. I just don’t think we have to wait that long. I think it should be sooner than that.”
Many in the media were quick to point out that Canada has already had its first female PM. That distinction, of course, belongs to Kim Campbell, who entered office in 1993 and had a shortened tenure that lasted a matter of months before more elections took place. Trudeau’s press secretary, Andrée-Lyne Hallé, was quick to deny the notion that he had somehow forgotten Campbell. “Of course the PM did not forget that Kim Campbell was Prime Minister,” Trudeau’s press secretary Andrée-Lyne Hallé wrote in an email to the Toronto Star. “Now that was almost 25 years ago — I think we can all agree we’re overdue after 25 years!”
Despite the one iffy answer, Trudeau managed to weave through the American talk show relatively unscathed, and ended the day in the most Trudeau way possible: speaking with locals from the comfort of a kayak.
