Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unknowingly signed a neo-Nazi flag during a pitstop in Alberta in 2017, as the man had tucked in the flag to make it appear as though he was wearing a bandana.
The resurfaced story is being used to point out the tone the prime minister has taken with those seen in proximity to hateful symbols recently.
During a press conference on Monday, the prime minister condemned the actions of the freedom convoy protesters. After having already dismissed the group while on its way to Ottawa as a "fringe minority with unacceptable views," Trudeau would go on to associate one unidentified man's Nazi flag with the protest, conflating the protestors with racists.
Quillette editor Jon Kay tweeted out the 2017 photo on Twitter in order to highlight the hypocrisy of Trudeau for using the hateful symbol to smear the convoy.
Whenever I see a random nazi nutbag pop up at a political event, I assume everyone within 1000 yards is also a nazi. https://t.co/sHu2Q6bb3s
— Jonathan Kay (@jonkay) February 2, 2022
"Whenever I see a random Nazi nutbag pop up at a political event, I assume everyone within 1,000 yards is also a Nazi," said Kay.
Trudeau had also once spoken at a town hall in London, Ontario, where a Canadian flag with a swastika was flashed, along with the words "evil fig leaf empire."
At the time, Trudeau did not condemn all of those in the crowd's attendance of being supporters of fringe or unacceptable views. Instead, he continued his conversation with reasonable people who wanted to participate in the conversation. He has not granted the same good faith to the truckers.
Trudeau has said that he is not "intimidated" by the convoy, and as the National Post reports, "told reporters he had no intention of meeting any protest participants and then took a shot at Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who met with truckers as they drove into Ottawa and later issued a statement condemning those who danced on the National War Memorial."