Fact Check

Canadian Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Share Kiss to Denounce Orlando Massacre

A fake news web site published a fabricated photograph of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and opposition leader Thomas Mulcair kissing to denounce the Orlando nightclub mass shooting.

Published June 15, 2016

Claim:
A photograph shows Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau kissing opposition leader Thomas Mulcair.

On 15 June 2016, the web site em>World News Daily Report published a fabricated image of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and opposition leader Thomas Mulcair kissing to accompany an article stating that the tender moment was intended to show support for the victims of a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando:

trudeau

Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and the New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair, made a surprising stunt yesterday, to denounce the shooting that killed 50 people in a gay bar in Orlando, Florida.

The two politicians, known for their dislike of each other, gathered for the first time in a joint press conference, yesterday. They completely surprised the media and the world, by kissing languidly for several seconds, to fight homophobic prejudices and denounce the recent violence against the LGBT community.

However, the article (and its accompanying photograph) was just another piece of clickbait fiction from World News Daily Report, a fake news site whose disclaimer notes that:

WNDR assumes however all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website — even those based on real people —  are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle.

Although the above-displayed photograph has been doctored and the news story attached to it is fake, the two Canadian politicians did demonstrate solidarity in the wake of the Orlando shooting. Both Trudeau and Mulcair released statements after the mass shooting stating that they stood with the LGBTQ community:

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.