n his early days as prime minister, Justin Trudeau was B次元官网网址渃ool.B次元官网网址� In the year that followed his majority sweep into power, he appeared in the pages of Vogue, on the cover of a Marvel comic book and on B次元官网网址淭he Daily Show,B次元官网网址� chatting with an up-and-coming Hasan Minhaj.

But the same strategy experts and observers say put him in the public eye and won him the youth vote in 2015 may have brought damning scrutiny as political tides changed, particularly as his rivals adopted his online style.

B次元官网网址淗e created a movement in 2015 and he got a lot of young people engaged,B次元官网网址� said Alfred Burgesson, who sat on the Prime MinisterB次元官网网址檚 Youth Council from 2019 until 2021.

B次元官网网址淭he same people that are asking for change today, or looking for a different leader today B次元官网网址� a lot of these young people, they started to pay attention because of it.B次元官网网址�

Trudeau announced plans to step down as prime minister and Liberal leader on Monday following weeks of pressure from within his party. He said he would resign just as soon as a new leader is chosen.

And though sentiment has changed over the years, Burgesson, who is now 28, said Trudeau helped many young people feel seen and heard, in part by establishing the youth council.

At the time, he said, the way people talked about Trudeau was B次元官网网址渋ncredibly positive.B次元官网网址�

Elections Canada data from the 2015 election showed that 57 per cent of voters aged 18 to 24 cast a ballot, an increase of 18.3 percentage points from the almost 39 per cent recorded in the 2011 election. And research conducted by Abacus Data following the 2015 vote suggested Liberals won the support of 45 per cent of young voters.

Mireille Lalancette, a professor of political communications at the Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Trois-Rivi猫res, noted that Trudeau was the first major party leader in Canada to use Instagram in 2015.

B次元官网网址淧eople were using Twitter, but Instagram is more of an identity-centric, image-centric medium,B次元官网网址� she said.

Trudeau used those images to project a persona that was at once youthful and confident, sensitive and thoughtful: a leader worthy of respect, she said.

B次元官网网址淭hese were his best years because people were rooting for him. He was also really popular. He was also able to reach out to the younger generation,B次元官网网址� Lalancette said.

He was a self-proclaimed feminist, an optimist who promised B次元官网网址渟unny ways.B次元官网网址� He presented himself as a family man, Lalancette noted, and said he valued reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

He also reached out beyond CanadaB次元官网网址檚 borders.

His B次元官网网址渟teamyB次元官网网址� photo shoot for Vogue magazine with Sophie Gr茅goire Trudeau made waves internationally in December 2015. He graced the cover of Rolling Stone a couple years later. His likeness B次元官网网址� though not his voice B次元官网网址� appeared on B次元官网网址淭he SimpsonsB次元官网网址� in a 2019 episode that saw Lisa Simpson nurse a crush on him.

B次元官网网址淭here was a moment where he was really a supernova,B次元官网网址� said Alex Marland, a professor of political science at Acadia University.

B次元官网网址淏ack here in Canada, we were getting all sorts of news stories that were talking about how he was being mobbed in the Philippines, or if he was going out to Switzerland, there were people there wanting to meet him.B次元官网网址�

Marland said Canadians had a sort of parasocial relationship with Trudeau at that time. HeB次元官网网址檇 grown up in the public eye because of his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, so people felt like they knew him.

B次元官网网址淭hey did not like anybody criticizing Justin Trudeau, because they saw him as almost a family member,B次元官网网址� he said.

But Marland said that started to change in 2018 when Trudeau and his family took a much-ridiculed trip to India. They were photographed, over and over again, wearing clothes more appropriate for a wedding than a state visit.

B次元官网网址淧eople started seeing it as: heB次元官网网址檚 a bit of a phoney,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淎nd all of a sudden, now, for some people, they were able to move away from giving him the benefit of the doubt to realizing that instead of (being) authentic, he was actually manipulating them.B次元官网网址�

Politicians seldom go out on a high note, Marland said, but in TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 case the highs were higher and the lows were lower. His image had become so big, Marland said, that when it didnB次元官网网址檛 match up with reality, people noticed.

B次元官网网址淲hat was growing over time was the disconnect between promise and delivery, and thatB次元官网网址檚 a fundamental problem when youB次元官网网址檙e dealing with a brand,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淎s a brand, Justin Trudeau was failing on a lot of promises because he was creating expectations and he was not fulfilling them.B次元官网网址�

He was dogged by a litany of scandals, from the SNC-Lavalin affair that saw two female cabinet ministers B次元官网网址� justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and health minister Jane Philpott B次元官网网址� resign, to the surfacing of old photos and video of Trudeau wearing black- and brownface.

Trudeau didnB次元官网网址檛 live up to his feminist, culturally sensitive promise.

Although Canadians re-elected Trudeau in 2019, he was knocked down to a minority government. The Liberals were unable to regain majority in 2021.

Marland pointed to a famous photo of Trudeau flanked by his cabinet, which was the first in Canada to achieve gender parity, walking up to the governor generalB次元官网网址檚 residence in 2015 to be sworn in.

Compare that, he said, to the image of the prime minister standing alone at a lectern as he announced his resignation.

B次元官网网址淭hat in itself captures what has happened,B次元官网网址� Marland said.