Politics

Leftists Mad That Bannon Is Friendly With Top Trudeau Adviser

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts.

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Canada’s quasi-socialist opposition leader is furious over an alleged friendship between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s senior adviser and President Trump policy adviser Steve Bannon.

New Democratic Party Leader Tom Mulcair demanded Wednesday that Gerald Butts “immediately disavow” reports that he and Bannon have struck up a close friendship.

On Tuesday, the New Yorker released an online story that described the ideological polar opposites as very friendly toward each other, with the article stating that Bannon sees Butt as a “sort of left-wing version of himself.” They are said to identify over Bannon’s reputed desire to raise taxes on the wealthy, which is precisely what Trudeau has done in Canada.

“There’s nothing better for a populist than a rich guy raising taxes on other rich guys,” Butts is quoted as saying to Bannon, referring to the fact that both of their leaders are independently wealthy, though Trudeau’s financial resources are modest in comparison to Trump’s.

In response to a query from the Toronto Star, a spokesman for Trudeau’ office avoided the issue and focused on how the prime minister is building a “strong and constructive working relationship” with the Trump administration.

“The prime minister has worked directly with the president, and staff and officials have worked closely with members of the administration on an ongoing basis, strengthening our relationship and discussing its importance to jobs on both sides of the border,” he informed the Star.

But Mulcair isn’t having any of it.

“Bannon, of course, is viewed by white supremacists as a leader,” Mulcair alleged to the Star on Wednesday.

“On these issues there’s no grey area. When it comes to connections to people who spew hate, and (have) a record of encouraging violence, then you’ve got to stand up full-square and say: ‘No, this is no friend of mine. I’ll have nothing to do with it.'”

If the two are friends, they are a proof that opposites attract. While Bannon has been widely praised and condemned for his alt right journalism, Butts is the former director of the Canadian edition of the World Wildlife Federation. Yet Trudeau has consistently praised Trump for his support of the middle-class while Trump singled-out Trudeau at the recent G-20 meeting for the “spectacular job” he was doing as prime minister.

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