Putin did not say the Canadian PM is an idiot!

Last month, a 98-year-old Ukrainian man named Yaroslav Hunka was given a standing ovation in the Canadian Parliament after being introduced as a war hero. This caused global condemnation, as Hunka is a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Nazi unit. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was forced to apologize on behalf of the parliament.

Meanwhile, social media posts have been circulating claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin called Trudeau an idiot. This is being investigated in this article.

Social Media Posts

Posts that try to convey the message that Putin called Trudeau an idiot are being shared on social media.

Facebook| Archived

We decided to do a fact-check on this.

Fact Check

We first ran a keyword search for "Putin Trudeau, idiot". This led to multiple news reports stating that Putin had called Canada's former parliament speaker, Anthony Rota, an idiot after Rota hailed an elderly Ukrainian immigrant from his district as a hero during a visit to parliament by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“CBC” News reported it in the following way:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has, predictably, weighed in on the scandal that has enveloped Parliament and led to the resignation of the House of Commons' Speaker, Anthony Rota, calling Rota an “idiot” if he didn't understand that a veteran who fought against Russia during the Second World War fought on the side of the “Nazi forces.”

He said if the Speaker did know and called Yaroslav Hunka a hero anyway, “he's a bastard.”

CBC | Archived

Another Canadian media outlet, Global News, published a report on October 5, 2023, which included a video of Putin. The video shows that Putin was ridiculing Rota, which indicates that the viral video was clipped in a misleading way.

We found that the full video of Putin's speech shows that he was specifically making fun of Rota, not Trudeau. This means that the viral video that was circulating online was misleading, as it made it seem like Putin was calling Trudeau an idiot.

In the above video, you can see from the 01:25 mark the full conservation that paves the way to Putin’s comments against Rota, confirming that the viral video was clipped and prepared in a misleading way.

Putin expressed these views at the annual Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Sochi, a major international forum that brings together experts from a variety of fields to discuss global issues. The meeting is held annually in Sochi, Russia, and is hosted by the Valdai Discussion Club, a non-profit think tank.

The Valdai meeting is known for its open and frank discussions about a wide range of topics, including international relations, security, economics, and culture. The meeting is attended by a diverse group of participants, including politicians, diplomats, academics, journalists, and business leaders.

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Conclusion

The original video shows Russian President Vladimir Putin ridiculing former Canadian Parliament Speaker Anthony Rota. This is contrary to claims by social media users that Putin was ridiculing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

This is a good example of how important it is to be critical of the information that we see online and to be aware of the potential for disinformation. We should always try to find the full context of a story before we share it or believe it.