Fact Check

Did Trump Mock Trudeau for Celebrating Thanksgiving Six Weeks Early?

In the spirit of bipartisanship and good foreign relations, there's always room for two Thanksgivings.

Published Oct. 13, 2017

 (Milleflore Images / Shutterstock)
Image Via Milleflore Images / Shutterstock
Claim:
President Trump mocked Prime Minister Trudeau for celebrating Thanksgiving six weeks early.

Shortly after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement wishing the people of Canada a Happy Thanksgiving on 9 October 2017, a "satirical" web site published an article claiming that U.S. President Donald Trump had mocked Trudeau for celebrating Thanksgiving early:

Calling him “a laughing stock” and “an embarrassment to his country”, American President Donald Trump savaged his North American counterpart with a series of tweets mocking the Canadian Prime Minister for celebrating Thanksgiving “6 weeks early.”

Declaring to his 40.2 million Twitter followers at 7:03am, Trump announced, “Justin Trudeau has just tweeted ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ in the middle of October,” adding, “this has to be the dumbest tweet in history. Idiot!”

Burrard Street Journal, the web site behind the false story, also posted a screenshot purportedly showing Trump's mocking tweet:

However, Trump tweeted no such thing. Burrard Street Journal created the image using digital manipulation.

The Burrard Street Journal (the BS Journal) is a "satirical" publication that does not publish factual content:

If you clicked here then you are probably doubting the legitimacy of one of our articles. Well friend, those are some good instincts, as the Burrard Street Journal is a satire news, parody and humor website and is for entertainment purposes only.

All Burrard Street Journal and Burrard Street Football articles are satire news and entirely fabricated.

Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental, except for all references to sports personalities and/or celebrities, in which case they are based on real people, but still based almost entirely in fiction.

Trudeau did indeed send out a Thanksgiving message on 9 October 2017. Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. In the United States the holiday occurs on the fourth Thursday of November.

Sources

Brown, Tanya.   "How Did Thanksgiving End Up On The Fourth Thursday?"     NPR.   21 November 2012.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.