Is Trudeau Having a Joe Biden Moment?

Does Trudeau also have a mental infirmity that is causing him to cling to power?

Asking if Trudeau is having a Joe Biden moment might seem like a strange question. Yet, it is one worth asking given the massive train wreck that occurred within the Canadian government and the governing Liberal party this past week. We have a Prime Minister who appears to have gone underground after making the reckless move of firing his top minister and having that blow up in his face. With his leadership in question and his government in free fall instead of facing the media to answer questions, he has left his other cabinet ministers to clean up the mess. That is not much different from the various times members of US President Joe Biden’s cabinet were left to carry water for him in when he made one of his many missteps. But that’s not the Biden moment I’m talking about.

First let’s recap the recent series of events that has brought Trudeau to where he is, or isn’t. Recently he has been battling a mutiny in his own caucus as a cadre of Liberal MPs are demanding he step down as Liberal Party Leader, for that they fear may lose their seats in the next election if he stays on. Trudeau’s response has been to exert his power as party leader and, with the support of his Cabinet loyalists, gag these MPs and force them to fall in line. Then his ministers put on a brave face and tell the media that all is well with the party and therefore the government, while Trudeau himself remains silent.

Amidst this Trudeau stubbornly clings to power as opposition parties move to bring his government down with a series of non-confidence motions. Yet, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, though highly critical of Trudeau, has, for reasons only known to him, refuses to vote the government out and spark an election. An election that polls say Trudeau would likely lose and lose badly to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre who has been hammering Trudeau, regularly castigating him for causing for the housing crisis, rising food costs, rising drug and crime problems and the flagging Canadian economy. To rub salt in those wounds the Conservatives comfortably won a federal by-election in the Cloverdale—Langley City riding in BC. It was a decisive win for Conservative Tamara Jansen who took well over 60 percent of the vote in the riding. It was the Liberal’s fourth by-election loss this year.

Meanwhile, US President elect Donald Trump fired his first salvo aimed directly at Trudeau earlier in the month. He made no bones about it, telling Trudeau to fix Canada’s porous border and drug trafficking issues, which he views as a national security threat, or face 25 percent trade tariffs from the US. This prompted Trudeau to take a trip to Mar-a-Lago to see Trump and launch what he hoped would be a charm offensive. Instead he left with his tail tucked between his legs and nothing to show for the visit it but Trump mocking him by suggesting that, if his tariffs would hit Canada so hard as Trudeau maintained, that Canada should become the 51st state, with Trudeau demoted to governor. This was clearly another salvo aimed directly at Trudeau, for whom, it is clear, Trump has no love for. Something Trudeau only has himself to blame given his penchant to slag Trump at every turn during his first term as president.

To retaliate, Trudeau, in speaking at the Equal Voice Foundation gala, chose to scold Americans for voting for Trump rather than a female president. He told gala attendees, "We were supposed to be on a steady, if difficult, march towards progress. And yet, just a few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second time to not elect its first woman president," he sombrely continued, “Women's rights and women's progress under attack. And I want you to know that I am and always will be a proud feminist and will always have an ally in me and my government." He was, of course, affirmed with favourable applause from the one cohort – an all female audience – who still buy his ‘I’m a proud feminist’ rhetoric.

Following that oration, the self-described ‘proud feminist’ proceeded to fire his Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. The consolation he offered his trusted ally and confidante of nearly a decade was a far less prestigious position overseeing Canada-US trade relations, which isn’t even an actual cabinet position. Yet, he still expected her to deliver the government’s fall Economic Statement on the upcoming Monday. Freeland, after pondering her situation, decided that rather dancing to Trudeau’s tune — as she always has — she would instead resign her Cabinet posts and go out with a bang – with a gun aimed directly at Trudeau. She posted a scathing letter on X, making it clear what she thought of his weak response to Trump’s tariff threats and his GST holiday and $250 rebate ruse that she had opposed.

“The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 per cent tariffs. We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”

Freeland talking about ‘keeping our fiscal powder dry’ is pretty rich, given that she has spent like a drunken sailor in every single budget she has put forward as Finance Minister. Nevertheless, she did turn up at Parliament on Monday, making it clear she had no intention of delivering the fall Economic Statement, copies of which sat on a large table in the outer halls of Parliament, rather fittingly covered in a black shroud.

Instead, Trudeau held an emergency caucus meeting, which Freeland attended and upon her entrance into the meeting room was given a round of enthusiastic applause in the presence of Trudeau, whom she apparently gave a hug. The entire episode, I am sure, was another blow to Trudeau’s already bruised ego. Trudeau has since named new Cabinet ministers in a very hasty Cabinet shuffle and had one very brief exchange with the media simply to express that he had a very promising meeting with his Cabinet on trade matters. But, he would not answer questions on his future as Liberal leader or Prime Minister.

So what I am getting at here, when I ask the question – is Canada having a Joe Biden moment? It is no secret that Biden was suffering some form of dementia resulting in an alarming decline in his cognitive abilities during his time in office. His administration did everything they could cover this up, but when his televised debate with Trump so clearly exposed his failing mental faculties, that was the nail in his coffin and so to speak — the Biden moment. Yet, Biden still stubbornly insisted that he was capable of serving a second term as president until he was unceremoniously dumped and was replace by VP Kamala Harris as the presidential candidate.

So, what does this have to do with Trudeau? He certainly is not suffering a cognitive mental decline related to a form of dementia. Yet, despite countless polls showing that the Liberal Party will be decimated in the next election, and despite considerable pressure from his caucus and the Liberal Party itself for him to step down as leader for the sake of the party, and despite a growing number of political pundits saying that he is done as Prime Minister, Trudeau appears to remain steadfast in is belief that he can remain leader and that he, and only he, can lead the party to victory in the next election. What is driving his mind set?

Well there is a good chance that Trudeau’s behaviours may be attributed to something called Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), which is actually classified as a mental disorder on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) Canada’s most famous Clinical Psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson has often noted that he believes Trudeau is a narcissist although he has never officially diagnosed him with NPD.

However if one looks at what the DSM-5 outlines as specific criteria for diagnosing NPD, Trudeau would seem to easily fit the bill. This includes a grandiose sense of self-importance, preoccupation with unlimited power and success, belief that one is special, the constant need for excessive admiration, a sense of entitlement, exploitation of others, a lack of empathy, arrogance and haughtiness, an inability to accept responsibility for their own actions, a tendency to withdraw from or avoid situations in which they might fail and projecting an aura of charm. One need only have five of those criteria to meet the diagnosis.

NPD can further develop into Delusional Narcissism, a psychological phenomenon that combines elements of NPD with delusional thinking. In such cases a person’s delusions of grandiosity inflate their false beliefs about their importance, superiority, abilities and intelligence. They may hold these beliefs with a very strong conviction even when evidence indicates such is not the case. This could be why Trudeau insists that with him as the Liberal leader they can still win the next election despite what the polls say about the Liberal’s election fortunes and about Trudeau himself.

This inflated sense of self-importance also leads to an intensified need for constant admiration. That said it may seem surprising that Trudeau cancelled all of his year-end media interviews, but given the current situation he may very well be avoiding situations in which he fears he might fail, or be asked some tough questions. He might have even been advised to do so by his most trusted advisors.

Yet, right on the heels of the Freeland disaster, a cheery Trudeau appeared the Liberal caucus Christmas get together. It was an appearance he seemed to relish, and if one watches closely, during the first opening minutes of his speech, one may see the signs of his NPD surfacing. That Trudeau swagger is back and watch as he makes a comment, and then waits for the crowd to cheer, and how he seems to bask in this adulation needing it as much as he needs air to breath, particularly given to his current circumstances.

If Trudeau does step down, it won’t be due to the urging of members of his caucus, it will be with some serious arm twisting from close advisors, who have concerns about the future fortunes of the Liberal Party. But, I do believe at some point, Trudeau will indeed have a Biden moment.