Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tx.) twice promoted a lie that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fled to the United States because of protests in Canada against vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions.
According to CNN, the lie was started by a Twitter account name ‘Terror Alarm.’ On Saturday afternoon, that account tweeted, “#Urgent: Justin #Trudeau moved to a safe place in the US according to Israeli sources, as Canada protests spark security fears.”
The tweet was accompanied by photo of Trudeau’s family in front of an American flag.
According to CNN fact checker Daniel Dale, that photo was taken in 2016 when Trudeau arrived in Washington for an official visit. Trudeau said last week that he was going in isolation for five days after he was exposed to Covid-19 and announced on Monday that he had tested positive for the virus.
On Sunday morning, “Terror Alarm” corrected their false tweet with a ‘#FactCheck” that said Trudeau “is NOT in hiding” but rather “is in Covid-related self-isolation.”
Hours later, Roy amplified the conspiracy theory–ignoring the fact check–in two tweets and even went as far as to call for the U.S. to deport Trudeau.
“Is there a more gutless and cowardly display than a tyrant on the run? #DeportTrudeau,” he wrote in one tweet.
“If Justin Trudeau is hiding in the United States, we should return him to Canada and make him face his own people immediately.” But Roy added, “No safe haven for fleeing COVID tyrants. #LiveFree #DeportTrudeau,” he wrote in another tweet, this time adding an image promoting his campaign for Congress on a photo of Trudeau with the words “DEPORT TRUDEAU.”
On the same day that Roy was promoting this ridiculous conspiracy theory, Trudeau had completed news conferences in Canada hours earlier, CNN reports.
