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U.S. conservative figures cheer on Canadian trucker protest
CTV
Several conservative media figures in the U.S. have taken up the cause of Canadian truckers who have occupied parts of Ottawa and blocked border crossings to protest COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.
Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity cheered the truckers on while showing four live reports from Ottawa this week. Tucker Carlson's online store is selling "I (heart) Tucker" T-shirts edited to say "I (heart) Truckers."
"Send our solidarity, love and support to all of the brave people who are there," Hannity told Fox reporter Sara Carter, who was with the protesters in Ottawa, on his show Thursday. "Don't give up."
The Canadian protesters are decrying vaccine mandates for truckers and other COVID-19 restrictions and are railing against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, though many of the country's infection measures are already rapidly being lifted as the omicron surge levels off. Parts shortages caused by the protests have rippled through the auto industry on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.
In a bulletin to local and state law enforcement officers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that it has received reports of similar protests being planned in the United States.