Fact-Check: No, Russian President Putin Did Not Call PM Trudeau ‘An Idiot!’

Putin called the Canadian parliament speaker, Antony Rota 'an idiot' for honouring a Nazi volunteer in the house.

Fact-Check: President Putin called the former Speaker of the Canadian parliament 'an idiot', and not PM Justin Trudeau.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

A video of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking at a public event is being shared with the claim that he purportedly called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 'an idiot.'

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here and here.)

What is the truth?: This claim is false. Putin called the former Canadian Parliament Speaker Antony Rota 'an idiot' and not PM Justin Trudeau.

• Putin said it during the Valdai Forum in Sochi, Russia, on 5 October after the Speaker honoured Yaroslav Hunka, a former Nazi soldier, following Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's address in the Canadian parliament.

How did we find out?: With a relevant keyword search, we found several news reports by multiple English and Russian-language media outlets about President Putin's address at the Valdai Forum in Sochi.

• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported that the Russian President criticised the former Canadian Parliament Speaker Anthony Rota for inviting and honouring Hunka.

• Hunka fought against Russia from the Nazis' side during the Second World War.

• CBC also noted that President Putin said, "the kind of people we have to deal with ... in certain Western countries."

Here is a preview of the report. 

(Source: CBC/Screenshot) 

• Russian news website Gazeta.Ru reported that Putin said that if the ex-Speaker of the Canadian Parliament does not know “Hitler and his minions fought against Russia,” then he is either an "idiot or a scoundrel".

What happened in the Canadian parliament?: During Ukraine President Zelensky's visit to the Canadian Parliament on 22 September, the Second World War veteran, Hunka, was also present.

• After Zelensky's speech in the parliament, Antony Rota honoured Hunka and called him a 'hero,' as reported by The Guardian.

• It also noted that Hunka served in the SS 14th Waffen Division, a volunteer unit that was under the command of the Nazis during the Second World War.

• This met with heavy criticism, leading Rota to resign as the Speaker of the Canadian parliament.

Conclusion: The viral claim is false. President Putin directed the word 'idiot' towards the former Speaker of the Canadian parliament, Antony Rota for his honour towards second world war Nazi volunteer Yaroslav Hunka.

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