After Vice President Kamala Harris’ narrow defeat in the 2024 elections, a variety of observers took note of an international trend that made Democrats feel better: In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related post-recovery inflation, voters around the world turned against incumbent parties — from the left, right and center.
In a widely read Financial Times report, published shortly after Donald Trump won a second term, John Burn-Murdoch noted, “From America’s Democrats to Britain’s Tories, Emmanuel’s Macron’s Ensemble coalition to Japan’s Liberal Democrats, even to Narendra Modi’s erstwhile dominant BJP, governing parties and leaders have undergone an unprecedented series of reversals this year.”
It was a global trend, the report added, unlike anything seen in nearly 120 years.
What’s more, the trend against incumbent international leaders is still ongoing — and it’s reached Ottawa.
Under intensifying pressure from his own political allies, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he’s stepping down. NBC News reported:
Justin Trudeau said Monday that he will resign as the leader of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party, in an announcement that will fire the starting gun on a contest to replace him as prime minister. Trudeau, who swept to power in late 2015 and has governed for nine years, told reporters in Ottawa that he would step down after his party selects a new leader.
The incumbent will remain prime minister, however, until his successor is chosen.
As this relates to American politics, Trump probably won’t be too sorry to see the prime minister go. On the contrary, the Republican has had a difficult relationship with the Canadian leader in recent years.
At a NATO gathering in London in 2019, for example, Trudeau was unknowingly recorded at a Buckingham Palace reception, mocking Trump during a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Several years later, the Republican released a photo book that falsely suggested that Trudeau is the son of former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. More recently, the president-elect, apparently confused about what trade deficits are, began referring to the Canadian prime minister as “governor,” while suggesting that the United States’ neighbor to the north might want to become an American state. As for the near future, Canada’s Liberal Party holds 153 out of 338 seats in the House of Commons. National elections are scheduled for October but may occur as early as late spring.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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