THE G7 SUMMIT ended with US President Donald Trump renewing the threat of global trade war as he abruptly rejected the text of a consensus statement and branded as “false” statements made by the summit’s Canadian host Justin Trudeau.
“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our US farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our US Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the US Market!” Trump tweeted.
“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that… he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak,” continued the US president.
But the possibility of a trade war has been ‘overshadowed’ by an unusual theory circulating about Trudeau’s eyebrows, specifically that one of them came off during a live press conference.
As the claim is picking up steam, we will examine whether it is true.
The claim
Footage of Trudeau’s press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on 7 June appears to show Trudeau’s eyebrow falling off.
Once the footage was shared online, a number of news sites began to pick up the story, such as WorldNetDaily, TheDailyWire and TheDailyCaller.
Russia’s state-backed broadcaster RT ran a poll with the majority voting that it was a fake eyebrow.
This tweet is one of many making the assertion, but is the most widely retweeted, having over 7,400 today.
The facts
So let’s look at another video clip – a clearer one – from the same press conference. In it, you can see that Trudeau’s eyebrow looks normal and that there is a slight shadow cast on his left brow from poor lighting on the set. It becomes more noticeable when Trudeau looks down but then disappears when he address the audience straight on.
Click here to watch the video.
Let’s also take a look at official press photographs taken at the conference.
Here are shots of Trudeau speaking in front of French President Emmanuel Macron at the press conference, with the controversial left eyebrow in full view of the photographer’s lens:
Yup, still there:
And let’s get that straight on, just to be sure:
Moreover, as this Twitter user highlights, Trudeau’s natural eyebrow configuration is part of the optical illusion:
Conclusion
There is no evidence that Trudeau’s eyebrow fell off at a press conference or that he wears fake ones. A number of video and photographic sources contemporaneous with the event show that his left eyebrow remains fully intact throughout.
We rate this claim as FALSE.
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