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FactCheck: Did Justin Trudeau's eyebrow fall off during a press conference?

Footage online appears to show the Canadian Prime Minister’s eyebrow falling off at a live press conference.

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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.

Toe Knee / YouTube

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.

trudeau RT RT

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.

PastedImage-61922 @iD4RO / Twitter @iD4RO / Twitter / Twitter

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:

THE CANADIAN PRESS 2018-06-07 The Canadian Press / PA Images The Canadian Press / PA Images / PA Images

Yup, still there:

THE CANADIAN PRESS 2018-06-07 The Canadian Press / PA Images The Canadian Press / PA Images / PA Images

And let’s get that straight on, just to be sure:

THE CANADIAN PRESS 2018-06-07 The Canadian Press / PA Images The Canadian Press / PA Images / PA Images

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.

TheJournal.ie’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here. For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here. You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here

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