Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently came under fire because of a comment he made during a Q&A session at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada.
A young woman in the crowd asked him a question at the university regarding volunteering regulations.
Towards the end of her query, she said, "Maternal love is the love that's going to change the future of mankind."
Justin swiftly responded, "We like to say peoplekind, not necessarily mankind 'cause it's more inclusive."
"Exactly!" she replied. While the politician's interjection garnered a round of applause from the audience, people on social media were not so receptive.
A number of people mocked his comment as 'PC culture gone mad:
For the sake of 'peoplekind', please learn these new politically correct terms so Justin Trudeau doesn't scold you #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/SKXfEas1lz
— Ontario Proud (@ontarioisproud) 6 February 2018
#Humankind - #Peoplekind isn’t a word @JustinTrudeau
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) 7 February 2018
The Canadian leader has long championed feminist causes, having the first gender-balanced cabinet in Canada and openly discussing how he's raising his kids to be feminists.
Some, however, thought that his 'peoplekind' interjection amounted to mansplaining.
TFW a man tells you you're the wrong type of feminist https://t.co/wQ8CkmXwa5
— Robyn Urback (@RobynUrback) 5 February 2018
On behalf of Parliament, to the woman he interrupted, I apologize for his behaviour. Ps. I’d love for him to try to interrupt me like that. https://t.co/z9m8ECenEo
— Michelle Rempel (@MichelleRempel) 6 February 2018
The truth? Well, the father-of-three explained that it was just a bad joke gone awry.
We knew dad jokes could make us groan, but who knew they could spark controversy?
"You all know that I don’t necessarily have the best of track records on jokes. I made a dumb joke a few days ago that seems to have gone a little viral," the 46-year-old told reporters in Ottawa, according to Reuters.
"It played well in the room and in context. Out of context it doesn’t play so well and it’s a little reminder to me that I shouldn’t be making jokes even when I think they’re funny," the prime minister concluded.
What do you think of Justin's joke, mums?
