A TORY MP has defended Justin Trudeau for wearing black-face, insisting it was “entirely acceptable bit of fun”.
The Canadian prime minister apologised after a yearbook photo surfaced of him in black-face at a 2001 costume party and two other similar incidents came to light.
Now former Tory minister Sir Desmond Swayne, writing on his blog, said Trudeau should not have apologised for the incidents, which the Canadian leader admitted he now considers racist.
Commenting on one of Trudeau’s incidents, the Tory Brexiteer wrote: “It was a themed ‘Arabian Nights’ fancy-dress party for heaven’s sake!
“It comes to something when you can’t dress-up as Aladdin without attracting the opprobrium of the ‘great and good’.
“He would have done better to have said it was an entirely acceptable bit of fun and refused to apologise.”
Swayne then implied he himself had worn black-face in the past.
“I once went to a ‘Blues Brothers’ themed fancy-dress party as James Brown,” he wrote.
“I went to some trouble to be as authentic as possible. I can assure readers of this column that I have no intention of apologising.”
Aside from the Arabian Nights instance, Trudeau has admitted to performing a black-face version of Harry Belafonte’s Banana Boat Song (Day-O) during a talent show.
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