Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a meeting of the special committee on the COVID-19 outbreak, as efforts continue to help slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on May 20, 2020. (REUTERS File Photo)
OTTAWA, June 2 (Reuters): Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump's possibly calling in the military to quell protests, paused for more than 20 seconds before answering that Canadians were watching in horror what was happening in the United States.
During his daily news conference on Tuesday, a reporter pressed Trudeau on Trump's idea to use soldiers against protesters and to comment on the people who were "tear-gassed yesterday to make way for a presidential photo op".
"We all watch in horror and consternation what's going on in the United States," Trudeau said on Tuesday. "It is a time to pull people together... it is a time to listen, to learn what injustices continue despite progress over years and decades."
Trudeau went on to talk about the need to fight racism in Canada, as he has been doing since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week sparked protests.
When a reporter asked for further comment on Trump's words and actions, Trudeau said: "My job as a Canadian prime minister is to stand up for Canadians."
Trudeau has long spoken about the need to end racism, but his re-election campaign was almost derailed last September after pictures of him in blackface from years earlier emerged.
