Now that former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is dating pop star Katy Perry in an Instagram-official way, Canadian author Stephen Marche has decided to weigh in on the high-profile coupling. It turns out that he finds it all "warmly reassuring," he writes in a New York Times essay. "In a world of so much change and turmoil, it's nice to know that some things will reliably play out exactly as you expected." Trudeau has always understood celebrity—his parents Pierre and Margaret Trudeau were Canadian celebs in their own right—and he is a bit of one himself. As prime minister, "Trudeau not only wielded celebrity as a potent political tool but also used it responsibly, even admirably," writes Marche.
He "always seemed to understand his role and play it perfectly: He was there to be a famous face, and he largely left policy decisions to people who had a stronger grasp on the details." Marche sees a contrast with the US, where "many of America's political institutions are in the hands of minor celebrities and the celebrity-adjacent, from the White House on down." He sees the likes of Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Mehmet Oz as not understanding how to navigate this. But Trudeau gets it, "as does, in his way, President Trump," writes Marche. "In an attention economy, the world belongs to the celebrity class. The trick is to find a celebrity who will inhabit the spotlight but leave the governance to the experts." Read the full piece.
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