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Did ‘The Simpsons’ predict ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests against Covid vaccine mandate?

In the past, the sitcom has predicted Richard Branson's spaceflight and also Kamala Harris's inaugural outfit

Animated Fox comedy ‘The Simpsons’ is reportedly well-known for predicting several things, from Richard Branson's spaceflight to Kamala Harris' inaugural outfit. Now, it has been claimed that the decades-old sitcom also predicted Canada’s 'Freedom Convoy' protest. BBC reported that “the movement was sparked by a vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border, implemented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government".

A video has gone viral on Facebook as well as Twitter showing the show’s character Homer Simpson driving a truck with his son, Bart, as he says, “Look son. It’s one of nature's most beautiful sights…the convoy!” The clip then showed their vehicle getting surrounded by a number of trucks while Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau escaped out of his office’s window yelling, “they’re coming in through the back door!”

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Did ‘The Simpsons’ predict Freedom Convoy protests?

No, 'The Simpsons' did not predict the 2022 protest as the video is reportedly fake. Reuters reported that “contrary to social media claims, the video clip is not a 1999 prediction of the 2022 Freedom Convoy but is the edited combination of footage from two separate episodes of the show.” It explained that the clip showing Homer and Bart was from Season 10 Episode 17 that aired in 1999 and the second footage showing an animated version of Trudeau was from an episode that aired on April 28, 2019.

Reuters added that the two clips were “digitally altered to appear to show Trudeau escaping his office amidst the trucker protests and calls for the end of Covid-19 mask mandates in Canada.” 

It is not known yet who made the fake video but a person who shared it on Facebook wrote that “The Simpsons even predicted the trucker convoy” without providing any disclaimer. YouTube also has the same video but it mentioned in the description that it has been made using two footage from two different episodes.

The description read, “Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family move to secret location as Canadian 'Freedom Convoy' trucker protests spark security fears, report says. Thousands descend on Canada's capital (Ottawa, Ontario) to protest Canada's federal government's COVID-19 vaccine mandates. "Justin Trudeau - Hide and Seek Champion of 2022" Original Simpsons Episodes: Maximum Homerdrive - Season 10, Episode 17 (1999) D'oh Canada - Season 30, Episode 21 (2019).”

A number of people have discussed the clips on Twitter. US senator Ted Cruz tweeted while sharing the video, “Hysterical—The Simpsons predicted the Canadian trucker convoy! (Actually a mash-up of two episodes—fact checkers are in a tizzy—but still funny as hell!).” A user wrote, “The truckers have now joined the aliens on a racist galactic convoy to spread COVID throughout the solar system. Just as the Simpsons predicted. Fin.” “There is a video going around about the truckers in Canada and the Simpsons. This Simpsons cartoon clip is from 2 different episodes. The creator of this new video spliced both episodes together to push an agenda that the trucker convoy is fake and staged,” a tweet suggested.