WASHINGTON – Former U.S. President Donald Trump is attacking Canada as a country of “leftist fascists” for the way the country wiped out protesters from Ottawa last weekend.
Trump’s remarks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida marked the first time in nearly a month that he publicly acknowledged the protests.
He said protesters in Canada have been “slandered” as Nazis, racist and terrorists, accused of what he calls “obsessive crimes” and accused of allegiance to foreign powers.
The comments prompted a standing ovation from the crowd.
Trump said that police crossed the line when they began to remove protesters after nearly a month of them occupying the streets of downtown Ottawa, both on and near Parliament Hill.
He said he stood with the truckers who organized the protest and with the Canadians, who he said were fighting to reclaim their freedom.
“The autocracy we have witnessed in Canada in recent weeks will shock and dismay people all over the world,” he said to cheers from a sympathetic crowd in Orlando.
“In an advanced Western democracy, the peaceful movement of truckers, workers, and patriotic families protesting against their most basic rights and freedoms has been brutally quelled. .”
Trump has likened Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to US President Joe Biden, whom he has vowed to ensure will be sent into “political exile”, along with Democratic allies such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mr. Senate Majority Chuck Schumer.
“They have been slandered as Nazis, racists and terrorists – these are the names they have been called,” Trump said.
“I watched them; I saw those Maple Leaves all over the place, the flags and love for their country. A lot of Americans were there too and they loved our country. They were being bullied. hunted as enemies of their government and treated worse than drug dealers and murderers or rapists.”
Authorities in Canada crossed the line as they arrested, towed vehicles and forced protesters out of the city center of the national capital, he continued.
“You’re either with the moderate truckers, or you’re with the left-wing fascists – that’s what’s happening,” he said.
“We stand with the truckers and we stand with the people of Canada in their noble quest to reclaim their freedom.”
This Canadian Press report was first published on February 26, 2022.
