The Daily Populous Saturday October 19th, 2024 evening edition
Authored by nationalpost.com and submitted by Street_Anon

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Jordan Peterson says he is considering legal action after Trudeau accused him of taking Russian money 'I don't think it's reasonable for the prime minister of the country to basically label me a traitor,' said Peterson Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP via Getty Images

Article content OTTAWA — Conservative media personality Jordan Peterson says he’s looking into legal action after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week that Peterson is receiving funding from Russian state-owned media outlet RT. We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Jordan Peterson says he is considering legal action after Trudeau accused him of taking Russian money Back to video We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Play Video Trudeau made the comments under oath during his lengthy testimony on Wednesday at the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference and did not provide any evidence for them.

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Article content Peterson told the National Post he has never taken Russian money, “not ever in the past and not now.” It's a very serious accusation Jordan Peterson “It’s a very serious accusation,” said Peterson, in a Thursday interview with the Post. “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.” Peterson said he is looking into a defamation lawsuit against the prime minister, but said these lawsuits are often a “losing game,” even if he has a reasonable chance of winning it. “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,” he said. The prime minister’s office declined to comment on Friday.

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Article content In his testimony, Trudeau seemed to be referencing a recent announcement from the U.S. government that it was filing money-laundering charges against employees of the Russian state media network RT for trying to influence the presidential election by paying unwitting right-wing personalities. Photo by Justin Tang/The Canadian Press MPs in Canada have voted to study the alleged Russian ploy, but Peterson has never been connected to it. “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,” said Peterson. Peterson said it was especially galling to be accused of taking Russian money, because he has been sounding the alarm about foreign interference in the North American political discourse. In fact, a week before Trudeau’s accusations, Peterson published a two-hour podcast exploring “how bad actors and foreign powers are manipulating American thought,” particularly singling out Russian, China and Iran.

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Article content “I’m just not involved in this scandalous issue with Russia at all, not a bit. It’s worse than that, because I’ve been informing myself as to foreign media manipulation, in detail,” said Peterson. “So, it’s one thing to go after an enemy, let’s say, if you’re going to cast idiot aspersions, but it’s really not very bright to do it to someone who’s actually working to solve the bloody problem that you’re commenting on.” Recommended from Editorial Jordan Peterson: Alas, no re-educator to be found Jordan Peterson: I am ready for my re-education. Who will be my tutor? The prime minister also launched a surprising partisan attack on Wednesday at Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre during his testimony at the foreign interference inquiry. Trudeau alleged that several current and former Conservative parliamentarians are either engaged in or targets of foreign interference, while lambasting Poilievre for refusing to get top-level security clearance. Poilievre responded on Wednesday by accusing Trudeau of “lying” and demanded the prime minister release the unreleased names of parliamentarians alleged by a review committee to have wittingly or unwittingly acted on behalf of a foreign country. National Post

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HypnoToad121 on October 19th, 2024 at 10:49 UTC »

Do it. Discovery would be fun!

Virtual-Squirrel-725 on October 19th, 2024 at 10:37 UTC »

When someone says "I'm considering suing this person" it means "I want you to think they lied about me, but I can't ACTUALLY sue because it's the truth".

RickKassidy on October 19th, 2024 at 10:22 UTC »

That lawsuit would open up his finances to disclosure. That would be interesting.