Most Canadians and Americans also believe politicians who have made mistakes before taking public office do not deserve to face consequences for it. More than half of Canadians (53%) say it is unfair for public figures to face political consequences for actions taken in the years before they were in public office. Nearly half (48%) of US adults agree that it is unfair to penalize a public figure for prior mistakes, while one-third (33%) say it is fair.

In Canada, half of adults believe Trudeau did enough by apologizing (49%) for wearing brownface and blackface makeup while over a quarter (28%) believe he needs to do more. Nearly one in five (18%) do not think he needed to apologize at all.

In America, the view on whether it’s acceptable for a white person to wear blackface makeup is split along racial lines. White Americans are more likely than Black and Hispanic Americans to say that blackface is not racist by a significant margin: 45% of white Americans say it is not racist, while a majority of Black Americans (55%) say that it is.