Famed psychologist and political commentator Dr. Jordan Peterson is pushing back against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unsubstantiated claim that he has received funding from the Russian propaganda outlet Russia Today (RT).
Peterson said he is considering taking legal action against the Prime Minister for defaming him, despite the burdensome process that filing a lawsuit requires.
On Wednesday, Trudeau appeared before the foreign interference inquiry chaired by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue to testify about ongoing foreign interference in Canada’s democratic institutions.
When asked about the role of Russian disinformation in fuelling anti-vaccine sentiment and support for the Freedom Convoy, Trudeau claimed that influencers like Jordan Peterson and Tucker Carlson had been given money by RT to promote Russia’s agenda, alluding to a recent US Department of Justice indictment which implicated the conservative media company Tenet Media.
“We’ve recently seen that RT is currently funding bloggers and other YouTube personalities of the right, such as Jordan Peterson, other names that are well known, Tucker Carlson as well, to amplify messages that are destabilizing democracies,” said Trudeau.
However, neither Peterson nor Tucker were named in the indictment, and Trudeau did not provide additional evidence to substantiate his claim.
In response, Peterson told the National Post that Trudeau made a false allegation against him, and that the prime minister should have done his “bloody homework.”
“It’s a very serious accusation. You should have done your bloody homework and if you’re going to make accusations, you should have at least got them right. I don’t think it’s reasonable for the prime minister of the country to basically label me a traitor and I don’t find it amusing,” said Peterson.
“How I got dragged into this, I don’t know, because I haven’t been implicated in that even peripherally, but I don’t think Trudeau is informed enough to understand what the hell’s going on, period, but certainly not in the broader social media space.”
Peterson said that he is looking into possibly suing Trudeau for defamation, though he believes that such a lawsuit would be a “losing game.”
“I know what lawsuits are like and they’re a pain, and I’m not interested in being burdened down with that sort of pain, practically speaking. But by the same token, how about you don’t defame me when you’re the prime minister, especially stupidly,” said Peterson.
“I’ve been talking to my family about (whether) I have a moral obligation to go after him for defamation. He’s not like my neighbour, he’s the prime minister.”
True North reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office for comment, though no response was given.
In a follow-up to the release of his interview with the National Post, Peterson mockingly tweeted at Trudeau with a photoshopped image of him wearing a Russian-style hat while jokingly thanking Vladimir Putin for sending the gift.
Peterson also suggested that Trudeau made the erroneous claim against him in an attempt to distract from MPs in his own party who had participated in foreign interference campaigns.
“Maybe it’s just me But Looks like perhaps Justin baby Identified me as a Russian agent To take the heat off himself and the Canadian @liberal_party Who continue to refuse to release The names of the MPs among them Accused of conniving with You guessed it Foreign agents,” said Peterson.