Does it actually have an influence?: Expert weighs in PM Trudeaus viral bungee jump video – Yahoo News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under fire by several Canadians on social media after he went bungee jumping with his children near Ottawa on Sunday.

In the video that surfaced online, the prime minister is dressed in a red flannel jacket, blue jeans and boots. He counts to five and then throws himself off the 200-foot bungee tower in Chelsea, Quebec. He was accompanied by his two childrenhis son Xavier, 14, and his daughter Ella-Grace, 13. According to the prime ministers public itinerary, he had taken a personal day on Sunday.

However, many Canadians were unhappy that the prime minister decided to take a day off before the upcoming elections and while parts of Eastern Canada are still grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona. Many instead pointed towards the efforts of Pierre Poilievre, who was present in a freedom rally for Iran the same day.

This event comes a few weeks after Trudeau was criticized, again, for singing Bohemian Rhapsody in a hotel lobby two days before the Queens funeral in London, UK.

Footage of the impromptu performance was shared on social media on Sept. 18, where critics accused Trudeau of acting inappropriate during the United Kingdoms 10-day mourning period. Before that, PM Trudeau was criticized for taking too many flightsincluding a 14-minute flight from Charlottetown to Summerside.

In the recent weeks, hashtags such as #Justinflation or #TrudeauMustGo are trending on Twitter.

But the real question is, what impact does it all have on the public?

Is it really influencing how anybody is going to vote? I suspect that people who put that on social media dont like Trudeau, who never voted for Trudeau, who are never going to vote for Trudeau, and those are also the people tuning into it and spreading it, says UofT Professor Emeritus Nelson Wiseman, a renowned political scientist.

Wiseman calls this an echochamberan environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own.

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Before we had social media, people turned to their radio and the television and there was a much more common base of information. We generally saw the same stuff. but , what you have here is an echochamber, he says.

But now, you can easily get other people who think like you on your crazy hook. Then it gets reinforced, but it doesnt usually follow.

Wiseman also believes that since these videos are usually trending on social media and dont always get coverage from national newspapers, its mostly affecting the younger demographic.

There are so many young people who hate Trudeau and are sending it to those who hate him and then it spirals. But Id still ask myselfdoes it actually have an influence? he says.

Unlike the royal familytightly bound by rules and regulationsthe prime minister of Canada does not have strict protocols on what is and isnt allowed.

PM Trudeaus actions are often reminiscent of his fatherknown for his flamboyance and aberrant behaviour sometimes, often paying little heed to whats acceptable and what isnt.

In 1977, a picture of the late Pierre Trudeau doing a pirouette behind the Queen's back at Buckingham Palace went viral for "breaking protocol".

Pierre Trudeau does a well-rehearsed pirouette behind the Queen's back at Buckingham Palace in 1977.

Although PM Trudeau's actions are not as politically incorrect as the image above, it seems that public opinion on social media is often against him.

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Does it actually have an influence?: Expert weighs in PM Trudeaus viral bungee jump video - Yahoo News