A photo of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney living it up at a recent Pride celebration went viral, showing the buttoned-up ex-Bank of England honcho in an embrace with a nearly naked man.
The straight-laced 60-year-old Liberal Party leader made a surprise appearance at Vancouver Pride this past weekend, mixing it up with the crowd and shaking hands amid a sea of rainbow flags.
The crowd cheered as Carney marched about three-quarters of a mile along the parade route, which began outside of BC Place Stadium, before being handed a mic by a drag performer who towered over him.
Carney said Pride celebrates diversity in a “very positive way” and represents the “essence of Canada.”
While making the rounds at the parade, Reuters snapped a photo of Carney with his arm around a man wearing little more than a pink thong. Carney appears to force a smile as the man’s hirsute derrière catches the summer Vancouver air.
The awkward photo quickly went viral, with many on social media poking fun at Carney.
“Canada summed up in one picture. This is [why] Trump doesn’t take [Canada] seriously,” one X user quipped.
A large number of commenters raised doubts the picture was real, some questioning whether it was AI-generated.
In fact, both Reuters and Associated Press ran a series of the images leading up to the embrace itself.