Freedom protests shut down auto production, Rand Paul invites protesters to US

The freedom protests currently sweeping through Canada have caused some auto manufacturers to shut down their production plants as the protesters blockade sections of the U.S.-Canada border. 

Ford and Toyota have announced the closure of their production plants as truckers and protesters block the Ambassador Bridge at the Detroit-Windsor border. That section of the border is particularly crucial for auto production as auto manufacturers in Windsor export auto parts to automakers in Detroit. 

Indeed, 27% of all trade between the two countries crosses the Detroit-Windsor border. That trade has now been halted, which is costing $300 million a day. 

While Detroit Governor Gretchen Whitmer, an avid proponent of COVID-19 mandates, has called for Canada to take “all necessary and appropriate steps” to end the protests, other officials are cheering the truckers on. 

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) recently invited the truckers who are protesting to the United States to “clog up” American cities until COVID mandates are lifted. 

“Peaceful protest, clog things up, make people think about the mandates,” Paul told The Daily Signal. 

“And some of this, we started,” continued the senator. “We put [COVID-19] mandates on truckers coming across the border from Canada so they put mandates on, and the truckers are annoyed. They’re riding in a cab by themselves, most of them for eight, 10-hour long hauls, and they just want to do what they want to do. It’s their own business.” 

Paul also commented on rumors that a trucker convoy would make its way to Washington, D.C. for the State of the Union address in March. 

“It’d be great, but the thing is, it wouldn’t shut the city down because the government workers haven’t come to work in two years anyway,” Paul mocked. “I don’t know if it’ll affect D.C. It’d be a nice change. We’d actually have some traffic.” 

“I hope the truckers do come to America,” he emphasized. “I hope they clog up cities.” 

The protests are entering their third week and protesters have made it clear that they will not leave until all COVID mandates are lifted, despite threats of jail time or fines. 

“Do you think I care? Do you think I care about a fine?” a protester said. “I’m going to pay a fine? No. You think I care about their mandates? No. This needs to end.”