Fact-checker torches Chip Roy for circulating false conspiracy about Canadian PM fleeing to the United States

Fact-checkers are pushing back against Rep. Chip Roy's (R-Texas) false claims about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. According to The Daily Beast, Roy's post stems from a conspiracy about Trudeau fleeing Canada "in fear of a group of truck drivers who are protesting vaccine mandates" in Ottawa, Canada.

In a series of Twitter posts shared on January 31, Roy slammed Trudeau and even called for him to be deported from the states even though he is not in the country. With a photo of Trudeau, Roy tweeted, “Is there a more gutless and cowardly display than a tyrant on the run?”

The following day, he tweeted: "If Justin Trudeau is hiding in the United States, we should return him to Canada and make him face his own people immediately."

He added, "No safe haven for fleeing COVID tyrants. #LiveFree #DeportTrudeau." And he included a graphic that featured a promotional logo for his congressional campaign, a photo of Trudeau, and the words "DEPORT TRUDEAU."

However, Dale has made it clear that Roy's claims are completely false. In his report, he offered factual details about the circumstances surrounding Roy's claims.

Per Dale's report:

"Trudeau never fled to the United States; no remotely credible source has made this claim, which was initially circulated by an anonymous Twitter account. Trudeau, who announced last Thursday that he was isolating for five days after being exposed to Covid-19 and on Monday that he had tested positive for the virus, was in an undisclosed location in Canada's capital region on Saturday and Sunday, his officialitineraries said. He then held a televised virtual news conference on Monday from the Harrington Lake official residence in Quebec, near Ottawa -- a news conference that began more than two hours before Roy baselessly tweeted that Trudeau might be 'hiding in the United States' and posted a graphic that said, 'DEPORT TRUDEAU."'

While Trudeau did acknowledge that he was concerned about the possibility of violence erupting from the protests, his office only noted that he'd changed the location of his publicized schedule from "the usual 'Ottawa, Ontario' to "National Capital Region, Canada."

But despite his concerns about potential violence, Dale notes: "there was never any good reason to believe that Trudeau, who earned another minority government in Canada's September federal election, had fled his country as if he were a toppled dictator."