Indians are mocking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a darling of the global liberal cultural left, for wearing some over-the-top native outfits on his eight-day trip to India.
Trudeau, along with his wife Sophie and their three children, had been photographed repeatedly wearing bright-colored, traditional Indian wedding attire, complete with prayer hands to symbolize the traditional Indian greeting of “namaste.”
Indians were initially respectful of Trudeau’s wardrobe choices for the first two days of his trip—but, when the Trudeaus had pictured wearing garish Indian outfits for the third day in a row, Indians finally had enough.
Indian politician Omar Abduallah took to Twitter to mock the Trudeau family: “Is it just me or is this choreographed cuteness all just a bit much now?” he asked, of the famously liberal Canadian. “Also FYI, we Indians don’t dress like this every day, sir, not even in Bollywood.”
Bestselling Indian author Bhaavna Arora took it even a step further, tweeting: “Is it just me who’s finding Justin Trudeau’s fancy dress display fake and annoying?”
Another writer, Shunali Khullar Sheriff, echoed the sentiment: “Who advised Justin Trudeau to dress like a bridegroom at the Bombay event? Only a horse and sehra seemed to be missing,” referencing a traditional Indian headrest.
Top Bollywood film director also mocked a photo of Trudeau and liberal Member of Parliament Kirsty Duncan, both in traditional garb, writing: ‘Meet the newlywed Indian couple. Justin Trudeau wearing Indian groom costume and Kristy [sic] Duncan wearing typical Indian bridal maroon dress standing outside Hindu temple… Perfect.”
Even the Indian media began piling on.
India Today, one of the largest newspapers in the country, described Trudeau’s clothes as “tacky.” They wrote, “We understand that the Trudeaus do not understand Indian clothing as well as Indian dignitaries do, but… it’s not wrong to expect a touch of class.”
Trudeau seems to have gotten the message: on the fourth day of his trip, the Canadian Prime Minister wore a suit.