Obama wishes ‘friend’ Justin Trudeau the best in the upcoming election
By Jackie Dunham, CTVNews.ca Writer
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TORONTO, Ontario (CTV Network) — With less then a week until election day, former U.S. president Barack Obama has waded into the fray to bolster the campaign of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who he describes as his “friend.”
On Thursday afternoon, the popular former politician shared a tweet in which he appeared to reveal who he thinks should be Canada’s next prime minister.
“Wishing my friend @JustinTrudeau the best in Canada’s upcoming election. Justin has been an effective leader and strong voice for democratic values, and I’m proud of the work we did together,” Obama wrote.
Obama was referring to the period when he and Trudeau led their respective countries at the same time, from November 2015 to January 2017.
The two politicians’ close working relationship was well-documented during this period, with some in the media dubbing it a “bromance.”
Even after Obama left office, the pair have maintained friendly relations, with the former president visiting Trudeau at an Ottawa brewery for a pint in June 2019.
Later that year, Obama tweeted his support for Trudeau during that federal election, describing him as “a hard-working, effective leader.”
Trudeau’s main rival in the current election, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, recently received an endorsement of his own — from a former Canadian leader instead of a former American one.
On Wednesday, former prime minister Brian Mulroney joined O’Toole at a campaign stop in Orford, Que. where he described the Conservative candidate as “steady, strong, and visionary.”
Mulroney, who was prime minister between 1984 and 1993, added that he wasn’t there to attack anyone and that he only wanted to “help elect Erin O’Toole as the next prime minister of Canada.”
According to the latest polling data from Nanos Research, the Liberals and Conservatives are neck-and-neck in the campaign with no clear frontrunner in the final days leading up to the election.
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