How the Trudeau campaign scrambled to sidestep political disaster

Ajayveer Minhas rests his head as Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during an election campaign stop in Brampton, Ontario, Canada September 22, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

OTTAWA, Ontario (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his election campaign team were on the way to the airport in Nova Scotia on Sept. 18 when Time magazine journalists called with alarming news.

Within hours, the magazine would publish a picture that could doom his bid to win another four years in power. The 2001 image showed a 29-year-old Trudeau at an Arabian Nights party, his face covered in dark makeup, evoking racial stereotypes that seemed contrary to everything he stood for.