JUSTIN Trudeau has come under fire for “mansplaining” political correctness at a town hall event in Canada.

An unidentified audience member stood up and complimented the Canadian leader for recognising the “ability and power that women actually possess”. Over the course of three minutes, she discussed the church and the power of maternal love.

“Maternal love is the love that’s going to change the future of mankind,” she said — at which point the prime minister interrupted her.

“We like to say ‘peoplekind’, not necessarily ‘mankind’. It’s more inclusive,” he said.

The audience erupted into cheers, at which point he waved around and added: “We can all learn from each other!”

The clip has since gone viral — but not necessarily as an endorsement of the liberal leader.

Conservative commentators around the world have led a backlash against Mr Trudeau. Piers Morgan dedicated an entire column to it, with the not-so-subtle headline: “How dare you kill off mankind, Mr Trudeau, you spineless virtue-signalling excuse for a feminist.”

Others accused the leader of being overly politically correct with his remarks.

Curious if Justin Trudeau has ever interrupted Saudi arms dealers to explain to them the importance of saying “peoplekind” vs “mankind” pic.twitter.com/NJ7XXUpvDG — Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) February 7, 2018

So Justin Trudeau recently corrected a questioner that used the term "mankind" with an incorrect and fake PC term, "peoplekind." Looking forward to the next iteration of our national anthem, "In all our #peoplekind command!" — Jonathon Van Maren (@JVanMaren) February 5, 2018

The big thing about Trudeau's #peoplekind comment is that it's not a word. It's not in any dictionary. The man is so painfully politically correct he literally invented a new word just to chew out some woman. But I guess it was also her fault for asking him a question. — J.J. McCullough (@JJ_McCullough) February 6, 2018

People also jumped on the paradox of the leader “mansplaining” feminism.

Trudeau mansplaining to a young girl not to use the word "mankind" is peak Leftism. — Erielle Davidson (@politicalelle) February 5, 2018

So it's almost 5 pm and I'm *still* trying to figure out if I'm supposed to be mad at Justin Trudeau for mansplaining or for being a SJW. Being a millennial is truly exhausting. — Vanessa Santos (@VanessaOblinger) February 6, 2018

It’s unclear whether Mr Trudeau was deliberately attempting to be ironic, but he has since told reporters he made a “dumb joke”.

“You all know that I don’t necessarily have the best of track records on jokes,” he said. “I made a dumb joke a few days ago that seems to have gone a little viral. It played well in the room and in context.

“Out of context, it doesn’t play so well. It’s a little reminder to me that I shouldn’t be making jokes even when I think they’re funny.”

In 2016, the leader was blasted for opening a discussion on a devastating fire in Alberta with a Star Wars joke.

“It’s extremely wonderful to see everyone in such a good mood celebrating ‘Star Wars Day’ today,” Mr Trudeau said, referring to the date, May 4. “May the fourth be with you.”

It’s not the first time Mr Trudeau has been criticised for coming across as overly politically correct — nor are his critics solely conservative shock jocks.

Earlier this week, University of Nottingham professor Grant Dawson published an article in The Conversation accusing the leader of engaging in nationalistic self-praise, or “ear candy”, at the expense of real policy.

He referred to the leader’s lack of consistency on promises regarding indigenous communities and refugees.

“For Trudeau, everything seems to be about glorifying Canada, and himself by extension,” said Professor Dawson. “What Trudeau says obviously appeals to Canadians. But do his actions back up his words? On indigenous issues, on immigration, on welcoming refugees, the answer is no.”

Prominent American environmentalist Bill McKibben penned an opinion piece in The Guardian last year decrying the leader as a “disaster for the planet” and a “stunning hypocrite” on the issue of climate change.

He said Mr Trudeau is guilty of using “meaningless words” without actually following through with policy, referring to the prime minister’s push to construct new pipelines through Canada and the US.

He compared the leader unfavourably with US president Donald Trump, saying: “Trump is insulting the planet... but at least he’s not pretending otherwise.”