Trudeau says he thinks about how angry messages affect his family

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a podcast that he thinks about the angry messages some Canadians send his way and what impacts they — and his job overall —  will have on his children.

Trudeau appeared on an episode of Inside the Village that was released Friday. On top of discussing his children, the prime minister also spoke about what comes next for him and his embattled Liberal Party and the recently announced cuts to immigration targets.

Here are three key takeaways from the interview:

When asked whether he speaks to his children about the animosity directed toward him from some Canadians, including those who wave flags reading "F--- Trudeau," the prime minister said that people don't think much about the flags "but I do."

"That's my daughter's last name on that flag," Trudeau told hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith. "That's the last name that my two sons will carry throughout their lives."

The prime minister also said there are "a few people who are very angry out there, but they don't represent everyone — most Canadians are decent and thoughtful and just trying to make their way through in this country the best way we can."

According to sources who spoke to CBC News, during a tense caucus meeting on Wednesday where about 20 Liberal MPs stood up to urge Trudeau to step aside before the next election, the prime minister also referenced his work and his children.

The prime minister himself addressed the meeting, and two MPs told CBC News that he became emotional when he talked about his children having to see "F--- Trudeau" signs in public.

During the interview, Trudeau also said that he's "going to try and engage and try to understand" with Canadians who are upset with him but "there are people that can't be reached right now."

In an example, Trudeau mentioned his half-brother Kyle Kemper, who appeared in an interview with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson in June.

Kemper has been a vocal critic of the prime minister's lockdown policies and the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, but he has also said some of the criticism Trudeau receives is unwarranted.

"[I] love him, still do, always will," Trudeau said. "But, you know, [I] can't have real conversations with him based on facts and reality. And that's a real proportion of our communities, of our families, of our country that has gone that way."

But Trudeau said that he's reassured by the "vast majority" of people who "don't necessarily want that kind of thinking to determine what the future of the country is going to look like."

Trudeau was also asked about the Wednesday caucus meeting and his response to the dissenting MPs who have called on him to step down.