Watch: Canada's Trudeau grooves at Taylor Swift concert as riot-like situation erupts in Montreal

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was spotted dancing at a Taylor Swift concert amid violent protests in Montreal. A video of Trudeau partying at the concert went viral online, sparking major outrage. What makes the matter even worse is the fact that the Canadian premier himself represents a district in Montreal.

The video was from when Trudeau attended the Swift concert in Toronto on Friday night. A viral video posted on X shows the Canadian politician dancing and singing along to the song “You Don’t Own Me” before Swift took the stage. Toronto is roughly 280 miles west of the Canadian capital of Ottawa and 330 miles west of the Montreal district that Trudeau represents.

However, during the same night, an anti-NATO demonstration broke out with demonstrators hurling smoke bombs and marching through the state. Some of them were also carrying the Palestinian flag in condemnation of the Canadian government’s response to the ongoing Gaza crisis.

The irony of it all

According to Canadian news outlet Montreal Gazette, things started to escalate quickly after rioters set cars on fire and clashed with local police. Protesters reportedly threw small explosive devices and metal items at officers. At one point, some of the demonstrators went on to burn the effigy of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Visuals of Trudeau enjoying the concert while Montreal was in shambles sparked major outrage. Some social media users even compared Trudeau to Nero, the infamous Roman emperor known for “fiddling while Rome burned.”

Canadian Member of Parliament Don Stewart who represents parts of Toronto went on to call out the Prime Minister on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Lawless protestors run roughshod over Montreal in violent protest. The Prime Minister dances,” Stewart wrote in the post sharing the side-by-side videos of the Montreal protest and Trudeau’s dance.

“This is the Canada built by the Liberal government. Bring back law and order, safe streets and communities in Canada we once knew and loved,” he added. Meanwhile, a day after the whole saga, Trudeau denounced the protests and called them “appalling”.

“What we saw on the streets of Montreal last night was appalling,” the Canadian leader said. “Acts of antisemitism, intimidation, and violence must be condemned wherever we see them.”  “The RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] are in communication with local police. There must be consequences, and rioters held accountable,” he added.