We Dare You to Watch More Than Three Minutes of Justin Trudeau's Grad Speech

Graduation speeches can be a dry experience despite how intelligent those giving them are, and one that is usually impossible to get through without hearing an inspiring quote riffed on. Today, Justin Trudeau organically appeared at Yankee Stadium—which he called “one of the greatest places in one of the greatest cities on Earth”—to give a commencement speech to NYU’s graduating class of 2018. Trudeau also received an honourary degree from the university.

Now, Prime Minister Trudeau has a bit of a reputation for being a bit of a super-extra Dudley Do Right. But combine that reputation with a commencement speech, and you have something so saccharine it should come with a tummy ache. We dare you to watch at least three minutes of this and not just die from embarrassment.

At the start of his speech, Trudeau acknowledges the 180 apparent Canadians who are part of NYU’s graduating class this year, exclaiming, “Hello, welcome my friends!” with a huge smile across his face.

What follows includes talk of traveling the world in his youth (a “great, formative experience” of his life), of the value of diversity, “a tribal mindset,” and an outdated Pokémon Go reference. Oh, and a joke about Wilfred Laurier being his "second favourite" prime minister that unsurprisingly falls totally flat given the country where said speech was given.

Even though parts of Trudeau’s speech may feel cringe-y to some Canadians, it’s pretty understandable how an American audience could feel thirsty for a leader preaching “friendship” and “love.”

In other news, Michelle Rempel just called Trudeau “a tool.”

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