Another far-left politician has been outed for spreading disinfo about his political opponents.
Joel Harden, an NDP MPP representing the riding of Ottawa Centre, has been caught lying after falsely claiming he was punched by a protester.
On Friday, Harden claimed he was punched in the face during a protest against gender ideology outside a school in Ottawa.
The MPP posted a picture that showed him with a small cut on his cheek, claiming he would take “take a punch for queer and trans youth any day.” The tweet has been archived.
After some detective work by lawyer-turned-amateur-journalist Caryma Sa’d, it became clear that Harden lied about the attack.
On Saturday, Sa’d posted a thread showing the far-left politician scratching himself with his own megaphone during the protest.
The scratch shown in the picture matches up with the area Harden scratched himself in the video.
However, the disinformation Harden spread was picked up by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and disgraced “journalist” Rachel Gilmore. The tweet has been archived.
It was also featured in an article by Corné van Hoepen at Yahoo News titled, Ottawa MPP punched in the face at rally supporting queer and trans youth.
The uncorrected article has been archived.
Toronto 99 staff reached out to Yahoo News in order to correct the error, and the article was updated with new information on Sunday.
The article now features the investigatory work by Sa’d, and is appropriately titled, Ottawa MPP under scrutiny in wake of alleged assault at trans rally.
In response to the investigation by Sa’d, conservative commentator and YouTube creator The Pleb stated it was “game over” for the far-left politician.
This is not his first public embarrassment. Harden has previously come under fire for perpetuating “harmful” anti-Semitic stereotypes.
Even the left-wing Toronto Star felt the need to call him out, publishing his apology to the Jewish community:
“I spoke in a way that perpetrated an anti-Semitic stereotype towards Jewish neighbours.
I regret my choice of words and sincerely apologize to the Jewish community.
You have my commitment that it won’t happen again and I will continue to work with Jewish leaders who can help me understand anti-Semitism.”
For many Jewish people, his apology was not sufficient. Some have questioned why the NDP would continue to hold a Jew-hater amongst its ranks.
