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Trudeau Gets Obama’s Endorsement for Reelection Ahead of Canadian Vote

Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday tweeted his support for Justin Trudeau, urging Canadians to re-elect their Prime Minister in Monday's federal election despite the recent blackface scandal.
Sputnik

Obama tweeted that he was “proud to work with Justin Trudeau as President," calling his Canadian counterpart "a hard-working, effective leader who takes on big issues like climate change."

​Obama's support comes as Trudeau runs a competitive race against Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and in the aftermath of Trudeau's recent blackface controversy, which caused a wave of indignation. Last month, Time magazine surfaced photos of Trudeau wearing brownface when he was a schoolteacher in 2001. In his apology, Trudeau admitted he had put on dark makeup when he was in high school as part of a talent show in which he sang the traditional Jamaican folk song "Day-O."

He later admitted that he did not know how many times he had put on brown makeup, adding that "the fact is I didn't understand how hurtful this is to people who live with discrimination every day."

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