‘Talk about tone deaf’: PM Trudeau's Halloween post, son's 'beheaded' costume draw backlash in light of Gaza carnage

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under fire after posting a picture of himself with son Hadrien, who was dressed in a headless boy costume, while trick-or-treating for Halloween.

“Hadrien seems to have misplaced something… but that’s not going to stop him from trick-or-treating. Happy Halloween, everyone – have fun out there!” read the prime minister’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The post features three images, all featuring his nine-year-old son, Hadrien, wearing a costume which appears to include a robe with an opening for a face and plastic harness to seemingly hold the headless neck and shoulders, creating an illusion of a severed head.

The comments sections on Trudeau’s Halloween posts across different social media platforms reveal significant criticism with several Canadians disapproving of the pictures shared by him given the current sensitive nature of the Israel-Hamas war, during which alleged reports of beheaded babies were vastly disputed online.

“Talk about tone deaf,” wrote political commentator Tyler Popp on X.

“For someone keenly aware of current global issues, who describes himself as feminist and woke, there should have been a talk like “is this appropriate, considering my position and what’s going on in the world,” posted Re/Max salesperson Brian Matthews on X.

On Instagram, Toronto-based Saba Khan, who runs the page @fictionallyflawless, questioned the timing of Trudeau’s post.

“The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, decided to post a picture of him with his son dressed as a headless child. The comment section is full of people arguing about letting him do this on Halloween. But my heart says this is the most tone deaf thing he can do at a time when children are getting their heads blown off in Palestine. Even if your child dressed up like that because it’s Halloween, why post it knowing what’s happening right now?” wrote Khan in a caption.

Khan quickly gained support, and a share by popular rights activist Shaun King, for her point of view with many in the comments section calling out Trudeau for being “insensitive.”

“That shows he doesn’t give a sh*t,” wrote Zoya Irfan who runs @zoyabeauty.

“This is disgusting, insensitive and disrespectful,” Added another Instagram user as a comment on Khan’s post.

While Trudeau’s posts continue to receive considerable backlash, there is enough support vocalizing in his favour too as many Canadians feel the costume is appropriate given the festivities and people might be reading too much into it.

“Relax his kid can’t dress up for Halloween? Cmonnnnnn,” replied a user to Khan’s post on Instagram.

“This is a stretch. It’s not tone deaf. We can’t be mad at EVERYTHING,” joined Event Director Joel Simpson in support.

Trudeau received seemingly scant backing on X too with a user rejecting others’ criticism of him.

“Awesome costume Hadrien! Have a wonderful Halloween 🎃

Ignore the disgusting people who want to make a child’s Halloween costume a political statement. Bet you those same nasty people had no problem watching the Headless Horsemen movies and Cartoon!” a user replied to Trudeau on X.

There were others who raised concerns over Trudeau featuring his youngest child in social media posts months after having asked for respecting his kids’ privacy following divorce with wife Sophie Grégoire.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been notably receiving public attention over the past few weeks due to his comments over the situation unfolding in Gaza with many Palestinian supporters urging him to call for a ceasefire in the region.

While Trudeau has been in and out of national spotlight, regional leaders like recently expelled NDP Hamilton MPP Sarah Jama, who vehemently expressed support for Palestine, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have also been the talk of the hour ever since sharing their opposing views on the current war between Israel and Hamas.