Washington Post Author Calls Canada’s Freedom Trucker Convoy ‘Trumpist’ And ‘Authoritarian’
It is a sight that makes anyone old enough to remember the lyrics to the C.W. McCall song from the 70’s, “Convoy,” glorifying truckers and CB radios and the open road.
A line of trucks stretching for miles across the snowy landscape of Canada, with the drivers borrowing a concept from their American cousins, “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The grievance Canadian truckers are seeking to redress is a vaccine mandate, required for cross-border haulers.
But the left, once the champions of the working class, seems to view these blue collar workers as the enemy.
Look no further than The Washington Post, who ran an op-ed calling the Freedom Convoy “toxic,” and equating it to “Trumpist” and “authoritarianist” politics.
The movement shares an affinity with Trumpist toxic authoritarianist politics, @David_Moscrop writes: https://t.co/xta99h1kbu
— Washington Post Opinions (@PostOpinions) January 29, 2022
Framing The Protest
The main issue behind the protest is COVID vaccine mandates for Canada’s 120,000 cross-border truck drivers. The United States also recently mandated that foreign drivers must show proof of vaccination when entering the country.
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Washington Post columnist David Moscrop did his due diligence as a member of the media to frame the protest into some sort of rolling Canadian version of January 6.
Moscrop made sure to throw around words like “Trumpist” and “authoritarian.” After all, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted about it. And what is more authoritarian than… opposing arbitrary dictates from a far-off central authority?
Moscrop is by no means alone.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he with the affinity for blackface, had declared that the truckers were a fringe minority, with “unacceptable” views.
And if you think the rank and file left were on the side of the truckers who have kept us fed and supplied through the pandemic, look no further than the “Flu Trux Klan” posts all over social media.
What the heck does a vaccine mandate for truckers have to do with the KKK? Anyway, moving on.
Yes Ottawa!
Canadian Truckers have inspired the world
Still no coverage @BBCNews @itvnews ?
We stand #together #TruckerConvoy2022 #TruckersForFreedom2022
— Alan D Miller (@alanvibe) January 29, 2022
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Protests Are Fine, As Long As We Agree With Them
What Moscrop essentially says, and there’s no doubt his counterparts in the American press agree, is that while open societies do and should spark protest, they should basically just be protests the government agrees with.
If the people begin to protest the actions of the government, those protests are just the actions of right-wing “radicalized” folks intent on committing hate crimes and other forms of violence against those who don’t look like them. In other words, Trump supporters and those that might align themselves with Trump supporters.
Canada’s response, Moscrop states, sounds like you’d expect. He says the Canadian government should recognize “the bare necessity of speaking to their existence and outlining a program for pushing back,” but “refuse to platform or humanize” them.
Think about that for a second. These people, blue collar truckers, should not be “humanized.”
Well, what is the opposite of humanized?
Where is Justin Trudeau? #Canada #CanadianTruckers #CanadaHasFallen #CanadaRebellion2022 #CanadaConvoy #JustinTrudeau My contribution to the Convoy. Vive la résistance! Americans, follow the example of the #TrueNorthStrongAndFREE pic.twitter.com/cVpE59XuZ3
— Jacob Arden (@0bjectsinMotion) January 30, 2022
Incredibly, instead of perhaps meeting with some of the truckers and even listening to some of their complaints, Trudeau skipped town.
On Monday, Trudeau himself tested positive for COVID.
This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19. I’m feeling fine – and I’ll continue to work remotely this week while following public health guidelines. Everyone, please get vaccinated and get boosted.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 31, 2022
RELATED: Trump Hints That He Would Pardon January 6 Rioters If He Wins In 2024
Support For Truckers Gaining Steam
While media elites like David Moscrop and political elites like Justin Trudeau continue to insist that the movement sparked by the Canadian truckers is a “fringe group,” it has gotten high profile supporters, too.
Entrepreneur and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken to Twitter several times to voice support for the truckers:
Canadian truckers rule
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2022
Musk has also documented photos of the convoy as it stretched across Canada:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 30, 2022
Various terms of support for the truckers have trended over social media – things like #FreedomConvoy2022 – with the latest being #TrudeauIsACoward.
And of course, you can find as many memes as your heart desires:
Honk Forever. #HonkHonk #honking #CanadianTruckers #TrudeauIsACoward 🚚🚛🚚🚛🚚🚛 pic.twitter.com/eyzhwr8P6x
— Makaveli Memez (@Makaveli_Memez) January 31, 2022
Moscrop concludes with the opinion that the freedom convoy is really not about freedom. Canada of course has way more important problems than vaccine mandates.
Liberty in the progressive utopia of Canada is threatened by “income and wealth inequality; worker exploitation; gendered, religious, racialized and other forms of hate violence; ongoing settler colonialism; and other forms of structural marginalization and oppression that compromise liberty.”
Funny how “inclusive” never seems to mean people who have a different view than leftists like David Moscrop and Justin Trudeau.
As long as I live, I’ll always remember that time that the working class truckers of Canada brought everyone together after two years of hell.
Thank you #ConvoyForFreedom2022 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/IvMcmLi3Px
— Traditional Canadian Girl 🇨🇦 (@canadiangirls99) January 28, 2022
