Trudeau wades into Invictus trash talk with a pushup, draws online eye rolls
'Oh, hey. I just thought I'd show our friends in the U.S. and the U.K. how Canada brings it'
First came the Obamas. Next up: Prince Harry and his grandmother, the Queen. Now, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has waded into the online trash talk ahead of next week's Invictus Games in Orlando, Fla.
Trudeau responded to the boasting by the Obamas and the royals in a 23-second video posted to his Twitter account Monday afternoon. He is joined by members from the team that Canada is sending to the Games (along with a dog).
"Oh, hey. I just thought I'd show our friends in the U.S. and the U.K. how Canada brings it," he said, before getting down on the ground and doing a single pushup.
Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS">@POTUS</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS">@FLOTUS</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal">@KensingtonRoyal</a> - did someone say "bring it?" Canada's ready for <a href="https://twitter.com/InvictusOrlando">@InvictusOrlando</a>.<a href="https://t.co/TxBAMPvTYs">https://t.co/TxBAMPvTYs</a>
—@JustinTrudeauThen, holding himself up with one arm, he grabs an invisible mic from behind his back, pretends to drop it and says "Boom!" The bomb-dropping gesture was used in the videos put out by the Obamas and the royals.
The games are a Paralympic-like sporting event for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and were started in 2014 by Prince Harry.
This year, the games will be held in Orlando from May 8 to 12. The 2017 edition will be held in Toronto, where Prince Harry and Trudeau formally launched them on Monday.
The online reaction came in swiftly after the video went live.
Some were impressed with PM's move.
It's not the first time the prime minister has been noted for his athletic ability.
A few weeks ago, a 2013 photo of Trudeau doing the "peacock" yoga pose resurfaced online. And after a boxing photo-op with kids in Brooklyn two weeks ago, Trudeau got flack from his opponents in the House of Commons.
<a href="https://twitter.com/EasternViolet">@EasternViolet</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CanadianPM">@CanadianPM</a> Reason #576 to move to Canada......😁
—@JTMoomin<a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau">@JustinTrudeau</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS">@POTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS">@FLOTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal">@KensingtonRoyal</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/InvictusOrlando">@InvictusOrlando</a> <a href="https://t.co/7RviwechMk">pic.twitter.com/7RviwechMk</a>
—@RichterVega<a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau">@JustinTrudeau</a> 😍 I'm moving to Canada
—@mixedchick94Others rolled their eyes.
So far I've only seen two* world leaders do push-ups, Vladimir Putin and Justin Trudeau. Make of that what you will.<br><br>*and I pray, no more.
—@jhallwood<a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau">@JustinTrudeau</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS">@POTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS">@FLOTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal">@KensingtonRoyal</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/InvictusOrlando">@InvictusOrlando</a> <a href="https://t.co/KjuBwJf01I">pic.twitter.com/KjuBwJf01I</a>
—@SaraPer01.<a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau">@JustinTrudeau</a> This is literally the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen
—@LukewSavageThere were even some calls for other world leaders to get involved.
There will be around 500 competitors from 15 countries competing in the 2016 version of games, including Canada, the U.S., the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Iraq and Germany.
<a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau">@JustinTrudeau</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/markbrouwer2010">@markbrouwer2010</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS">@POTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS">@FLOTUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal">@KensingtonRoyal</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/InvictusOrlando">@InvictusOrlando</a> So <a href="https://twitter.com/MinPres">@MinPres</a>, PM of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Netherlands?src=hash">#Netherlands</a>...now it's your turn!!
—@RonaldElzenga