Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Come Out in Support of Canadian Freedom Convoy

On Thursday, January 27th, Tech Billionaire Elon Musk tweeted out his support for the ongoing protest by Canadian truckers against the Canadian government’s vaccine mandate. This protest is known as the “Freedom Convoy,” an over 40-mile long caravan of Canadian truckers driving from Vancouver to Ottawa in protest of Canada’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers. Mr. Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, co-founder of the electric car company Tesla and one of the richest men in the world, tweeted “Canadian truckers rule” followed by “CB radios are free from govt/media control” along with “Je m’aple syrup,” which appears to be a combination of English and French words meaning “I am Maple Syrup.” The latter tweet prompted confusion among his followers.

Canadian truckers rule

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2022

CB radios are free from govt/media control

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2022

Je m’aple syrup

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2022

Mr. Musk was not the only prominent supporter the Freedom Convoy received. Podcaster Joe Rogan also announced his support, stating that Canada “was in revolt.” He went on to discuss what he viewed as the absurdity of truckers, who spend the majority of their workday alone— in a truck—being subjected to profession-specific vaccine mandates. Jordan Peterson also indicated his support for the protestors. 

The Freedom Convoy has been a source of controversy since its inception, with major news organizations such as the Toronto Star accusing the Freedom Convoy of being a hotbed of right-wing extremism or even potentially “a Canadian version of the invasion of the Capitol building in Washington once the trucks reach Ottawa.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has described the Convoy as a “fringe minority of people.” that “do not represent the views of Canadians.” 

Many conservative voices in Canada, however, have clapped back against these accusations, accusing the media of nitpicking extremists. Canadian politician Pierre Poilievre, for example, stated that people should not “disparage the thousands of hard-working, law-abiding and peaceful truckers, who quite frankly have kept all of you alive for the last two years by filling your grocery shelves with the food that you eat and filling your homes with the products you rely upon.” 

The Freedom Convoy left Vancouver on January 22nd and is slated to reach Ottawa, the Canadian capital, on January 29th. The original spark for the protest was a rule change that requires all unvaccinated truckers to undergo a two-week quarantine when crossing the US Canada border, a move critics say would exaggerate the supply chain crisis.