‘A dumb thing to do’: Trudeau apologizes for brownface
TORONTO — Canadian leader Justin Trudeau’s campaign was hit Wednesday by the publication of a yearbook photo showing him in brownface makeup at a 2001 costume party. The prime minister apologized and said “it was a dumb thing to do.”
Time magazine posted the photo, which it says was published in the yearbook from the West Point Grey Academy, a private school in British Columbia where Trudeau worked as a teacher before entering politics. It depicts the then 29-year-old Trudeau wearing a turban and robe, with dark makeup on his hands, face and neck.
Trudeau, who launched his reelection campaign exactly one week ago, said he should have known better.
“I’m pissed off at myself, I’m disappointed in myself,” Trudeau told reporters traveling with him on his campaign plane.
The Canadian prime minister is but the latest politician to face scrutiny over racially insensitive photos and actions from their younger days. Earlier this year, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam faced intense pressure to resign after a racist picture surfaced from his 1984 medical school yearbook page. He denied being in the picture but admitted wearing blackface as a young man while portraying Michael Jackson at a dance party in the 1980s. Since then, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has acknowledged wearing blackface in college, and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has publicly apologized for donning blackface during a college skit more than 50 years ago. None has resigned.
Joe Kennedy to challenge Markey in primary
BOSTON — Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a scion of one of America’s most storied political families, is set to announce he will challenge U.S. Sen. Edward Markey in the state’s Democratic primary in 2020.
A person with knowledge of Kennedy’s plans told The Associated Press that Kennedy will formally make the announcement Saturday. The person wasn’t authorized to preempt Kennedy’s announcement and spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
The 38-year-old grandson of Robert Kennedy has been quietly laying down the foundation of a run, building up his staff and formally announcing his interest in the race by filing preliminary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission last month.
“I don’t think primaries are something that people should shy away from,” Kennedy told reporters at the state Democratic convention last Saturday. “The idea behind it is that every seat, my own included, the one that I currently occupy as a member of the House of Representatives, it’s up every two years. It’s a two-year term. You have to go out and make that case to voters every two years.”
Kennedy has shied away from directly criticizing Markey, calling him “a good man.”
No truce: Trump keeps up feud with California during visit
SAN DIEGO — President Donald Trump remains on a war footing. With California.
Trump’s primary mission during his two-day visit to the state was to raise millions from wealthy Republicans. But he also made a point of deriding the state’s handling of its homeless crisis, and on Wednesday, he issued a long-expected challenge to California’s authority to reduce car emissions.
Later, he threatened to sic the Environmental Protection Agency on San Francisco over its homeless population, accusing the city of allowing a tremendous amount of waste, including needles, to go through storm drains into the ocean.
“It’s a terrible situation that’s in Los Angeles and in San Francisco,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Washington. “And we’re going to be giving San Francisco — they’re in total violation — we’re going to be giving them a notice very soon.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, publicly called out the Trump White House for a lack of “moral authority” and lamented the state’s “unfortunate relationship” with the president.
Bermuda lashed by heavy winds from Hurricane Humberto
MIAMI — Hurricane Humberto lashed Bermuda with strong winds Wednesday night as the powerful Category 3 storm passed just to the north of the British Atlantic territory, while another growing storm threatened tourist resorts along Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Bermuda Gov. John Rankin called up 120 members of the Royal Bermuda Regiment to prepare for possible storm recovery efforts and National Security Minister Wayne Caines cautioned everyone to stay inside. Authorities had ordered early closings of schools, clinics and government offices.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said hurricane-force winds began to hit the island of some 70,000 people by late afternoon and would last into early Thursday.
Humberto’s maximum sustained winds held at 120 mph (195 kph) and the storm was centered about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Bermuda on Wednesday night. It was moving east-northeast at 20 mph (31 kph).
James Dodgson, director of the Bermuda Weather Service, warned that the storm could produce tornadoes and dangerous storm surge.