David Menzies and guests expose Antifa’s violent intimidation of journalists, like Katie Daviscourt’s assault in Renton, WA, while mainstream media ignored her plight. In Russia, Jeremy Lafredo reveals Western brands (McDonald’s, Starbucks) operating under new names with no sanctions impact, debunking starvation narratives. Meanwhile, GM’s exclusion of Rebel News at an Ontario plant—despite confirmed invites from executive Erin Strolovich (she-her)—suggests political interference, possibly tied to past $11B bailouts. The episode underscores systemic media bias and corporate cowardice in the face of ideological pressure, eroding trust in institutions. [Automatically generated summary]
Welcome to Rebel Roundup, ladies and gentlemen, and the rest of you, in which we look back at some of the very best commentaries of the week by your favorite Rebels.
I'm your host, David Menzies.
Well, our Seattle-based correspondent, Katie Daviscourt, went to cover a drag queen event at a brew pub last weekend.
It was all about promoting perversity, or I mean diversity, as well as love and tolerance and all the rest of that.
But outside the restaurant, more than 100 antipotypes were on hand and they swarmed and physically assaulted Katie, stealing her phone in the process.
We're not going to let this stand and Katie will join me to explain everything.
And what's really going on in Russia these days?
Well, our New York-based reporter, Jeremy Lafredo, he just got back from Moscow.
And his conclusion, if you're getting your information from the lame stream media, it's best you take that info with a shovelful of salt and letters.
We get your letters.
We get your letters every minute of every day.
And you had plenty to say about General Motors inviting Rebel News to a press event at their Ingersoll, Ontario plant, only to disinvite us once we got there.
Gee, why would that be?
Were they acting on a request from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who were also in attendance?
If so, GM's egregious behavior totally makes sense.
You don't want to make enemies of those in political office in case GM needs another taxpayer-funded bailout in the near future.
Those are your rebels.
Let's round them up dozens of kids came to hear Sylvia read Christmas classics many of them coming for the first time She's awesome.
I just wanted to be a part of them, right?
I wanted to, like, even if it was never here, I would still show her.
Here we go.
all we're doing is trying to teach young children that it's alright to be reaching out and spreading love and executives to everybody, which I think is the best message everybody needs.
You're in your fit-ass bedhead again, man!
Okay, anytime they try to step up inside of that, the mom is everything.
We wanna.
Umbrella crew out.
Of course, she took Katie Daviscourt.
Look at all the Antifa following me.
They stole Katie Davis Court's phone.
In Renton, Washington, outside the brewmaster's top room, I'm a journalist.
And Antifa robbed me.
They stole my phone and assaulted me, and I need the police to come.
Oh, you can call the police if you want to.
Feel free.
How?
I don't have a phone.
Oh, you have your phone.
I'm not getting it.
Yes, no, don't.
You're a fascist, Katie.
Antifa swarmed me with her umbrellas and then one of them robbed me.
They stole my phone and assaulted me.
Katie Davis Court here with Rebel News USA.
Unfortunately, over the weekend, when I was covering a drag queen story hour protest near Seattle, Washington, I was mobbed and robbed by members of Antifa.
Militants stole my phone as a group mobbed me and swarmed me with their umbrellas to prevent me from reporting on the event.
We have a plan to find the perpetrator, so please follow along and chip in if you can to support this endeavor at standwithkatie.com.
For those who might be new to my reporting, since I only recently joined Rebel, I am a Seattle-based independent journalist and made a name for myself in the Pacific Northwest covering the defund the police movement.
And I'm one of the only brave enough reporters left to continue covering Antifa extremism.
So I guess let's break down what happened on Saturday.
A conservative group had posted a call to action earlier in the week for people to protest a drag queen story hour event that was taking place at the Brewmasters Tap Room in Renton, Washington.
Now we have all seen the grooming and vile predatory behavior at these events, which was the group's reasoning for protesting the event.
The protest was called off after the owner of the restaurant claims that an unknown suspect fired a single round with what appears to have been a BB or a pellet gun into the window of the restaurant, according to the Renton Police Department.
And this happened only a few days after the call to action.
So after the incident occurred, Antifa called on their comrades to show up to the event and protect the drag queen and the restaurant from any right-wing individual that planned to protest.
Since Antifa has been extremely low on numbers as they have had a lot of infighting due to the vast majority of the public rejecting their views and their comrades have been hit with criminal charges for extremism that they carried out in 2020, I was shocked when I drove by on Saturday and saw hundreds outside the brewmasters tap room, which included dozens of armed black block Antifa militants guarding the restaurant.
That's why I decided to play it safe and report from across the street.
I briefly went over to the other side to get a quick video of the crowd to include in my report.
And despite the extremely minimal time that I was near the crowd, it was enough for Antifa to target and rob me.
Antifa militants began to swarm me with their umbrellas and that's when one of them came up to me from behind and stole my phone out of my hands as I was recording and assaulted me in the process.
Oh They stole my phone and assaulted me, and I need the police to come.
They stole Katie Davis Court's phone.
It's all on camera.
Yeah, this is out of control.
They stole my phone and after the robbery and assault, I asked two local news reporters for help and they both refused to help me call the police.
Absolutely beyond the pale.
And once again, the soy boys and assorted other Marxists who make up Antifa prove they are oh so strong and brave when they assemble like a pack of hyenas or jackals.
And wasn't that really so brave of them to assault a lady who was simply exercising her First Amendment rights?
But then again, Antifa hates those who disagree with them.
And for that matter, Antifa hates America too.
And joining me now is the target of their ire and that would be Katie Davis Court.
Hey, how you doing there, Katie?
David, thank you for having me on.
Means a lot.
It's always a pleasure, my friend.
You know, Katie, in the past two years, as you might know, I've been manhandled by everything from savage dogs to Justin Trudeau's Royal Canadian mounted henchman.
I try to take it in stride and not get angry, but seeing what happened to you made my blood boil.
The first question, Katie, is that given that there were so many Antifa types wearing trouble on their shirts, so to speak, where in blue hell was the police?
Yeah, so I was told by a source in the Renton Police Department.
Renton is a city right outside of Seattle.
I was told by a source that the city government told department heads to have police not intervene that day if anything were to happen.
But Katie, that is egregious.
I mean, police shouldn't be directed by any kind of political process.
They're there to serve and protect.
They are there to uphold the law.
And it sounds to me like you're telling me that there are politicians in your neck of the woods that for political reasons are basically telling the police to stand down and not uphold the law.
How did we get to this point, Katie?
Right.
That is a great question.
Our city governments have been overtaken by Marxists and socialists.
It is there, they are trying so hard to defund the police and make a police state.
It's what's happening in the state of Washington.
And we were seeing it first in Seattle, but it's now the entire King County.
So our politicians have full control over our police departments now.
And now our police has to abide by whatever our politicians say.
It is the defund the police movement and they're in full control.
So I wish I knew how we got here.
This is the United States of America, not the Soviet Union.
And you have to keep fighting back against it and exposing what's happening.
That's why it's so important to have independent reporters on the ground.
And Antifa essentially acts with impunity here in the Seattle area and in Portland because our city governments are so corrupt now.
Well, you know, this is very disturbing to me, Katie.
And I mean, it seems that it's irrelevant to defund the police in your neck of the woods.
It looks like they're already neutered, as they say in Alabama.
This dog don't hunt.
I mean, if they're not going to where the trouble is and, you know, you know, fulfilling their vows to uphold the law, then, you know, why is there a police force to begin with?
But the other angle here that also made me extremely angry was the fact that once you had your phone stolen by these cowards, you went to members of the mainstream media.
And Anderson, I believe we talked off camera a few days ago.
You said there was one person there that you had gone to bat for in a helpful way.
And you merely asked them if they could phone in to the police that you had been assaulted and robbed.
And no, sir, they weren't even going to do that much.
How do you explain that?
Yeah, so I've had some scary moments in the field before.
I've been covering Antifa and these protests for a few years now.
And this was by far the worst.
Not being robbed, you know, I can get over it because Antifa, I just look at them as pure evil terrorists, which is what they are.
They're acting as the modern day brown shirts.
But I had no idea that when I went up and asked mainstream media for help, as you could see in the video, I was in pretty much acute distress and they denied me basic human decency.
They told me that they wouldn't phone the police for me.
And one report, one photographer with King Five pretty much mocked me and said, I'm not going to get my phone out.
And I said, and he goes, well, you can call the police on your own.
And I said, well, how am I going to do that without a phone?
And he goes, that's for you to figure out.
And our mainstream media here is basically just a political arm for the left-wing government.
They are so one-sided.
They do not report accurately.
I went and when I got back home, I went to see what their reports were for that day.
And they made it seem like, oh, the community came out in force to stand alongside the drag queen and the protesters to stand against hate.
So I just thought it was so ridiculous that they are pretty much fronting for left-wing hate groups.
Absolutely shameful, Katie.
And we've spoken about this before.
When we look at Antifa, Antifa, that's a contraction for anti-fascists.
But I would argue they should just be called FA for fascists because these people employ the methods of fascism.
They use physical violence.
They use coercion, intimidation, vandalism.
They severely injure people.
These aren't anti-fascists.
These are just fascists playing out.
And I would say this, Katie, I think it was most unfortunate that when Donald Trump was in the White House, he never took the time.
And I know there was a lot on his plate, but it would have been great if he could have declared this entity a domestic terrorist group.
What are your thoughts on that?
Oh, yeah, I absolutely agree.
So before he did exit the White House, he mentioned that he was going to designate Antifa a terrorist organization.
And I'm hoping that if a conservative governor gets back in the White House, and just to make note, this should not be a Democrat-Republican issue.
This is a radical terrorist group acting with the community in our streets.
So this should be everyone should be standing against Antifa.
But if a president gets back into the White House that looks at this group as an issue, then I would love to go before Congress alongside my former colleague, Andy No, other independent reporters here in Seattle who are working so hard to expose Antifa.
I would love to go share my experience of what it's really like being a journalist here in the Northwest and being frequently targeted by them.
These people have come to my home, put up flyers on my family members.
They are the terrorist groups.
I would love to go before Congress and try to get them to actually do something about this group.
Pursue Accountability00:03:04
It's absolutely despicable.
That's the only word that comes to mind regarding your encounter with these scumbags.
I'm sort of use that word, but I think it does apply.
Luckily, Katie, you and I work for a boss who doesn't bend the knee, who doesn't wave the white flag of surrender, who doesn't say, oh, well, in the field, stuff happens.
And that is a Ezra Levant.
He was as mad about this as I was.
We're going to pursue everything we can in order to identify those thugs, pursue criminal charges, pursue civil litigation.
Can you tell our viewers what new website we've established to help you out on this quest for justice?
Yeah, thank you guys.
Please go to standwithkaty.com.
That way we can continue funding security for me because it's way too risky to be out in the field here in Seattle without security.
So standwithkaty.com if you think that this work is important to continue to reporting on.
But also we are going to at standwithkatie.com.
You can pitch in to help us with our bounty.
We are offering a $500 bounty to find this Antifa militant that robbed me.
We're also hiring lawyers to go after the Antifa militant and to hold the district attorney and prosecutors accountable to actually prosecute.
And if they fail to prosecute, we're going to hire a civil lawyer to go after the prosecutors.
So we are not going to, we're standing up to them now.
We're not going to let them continue to assault us with impunity.
And it's time that they're held accountable.
So standwithkatie.com.
And I guess going forward, Katie, there's nothing else to say other than if there is another event in which it's likely Antifa might show up, we're going to have to have a bodyguard for you.
I mean, I've gone to protests where those types show up without a bodyguard only because I know there's going to be security guards and the police in attendance, and they're going to keep an eye on things to make sure shenanigans didn't happen.
I think that might have been your assumption at this thing.
But as we previously discussed, whether they're being politically motivated or not, it looks like the Seattle Police Force is just not concerned all that much with upholding the law.
So I think that's the sad reality.
We're going to have to send you out there with protection because no story is worth getting beaten up about or even worse, God forbid.
Last word goes to you, Katie.
Yeah, thank you guys.
Just standwithkatie.com because I've been reporting on this group for about five years now and I want to continue the work and we need to start holding these people accountable because there's a terrorist group freely acting in the United States.
So not many people report on it and it's one of the most important things to report on.
So thank you guys.
Fantastic.
Well, Katie, you are a brave lady indeed.
And like I said, we're not going to let this stand.
We're going to find out who's who in the zoo.
Starbucks in Russia00:04:55
We're going to find out who to charge, who to sue.
You cannot get away with this, especially in a nation that has as part of its constitution the First Amendment.
Katie, you have a wonderful weekend and stay safe, my friend.
Thanks, David.
You too.
Thank you.
And that was Katie Davis Court in Seattle.
Keep it here, folks.
More of Rebel Roundup to come right after this.
I'm Jeremy Lafredo for Rebel News in Moscow, Russia.
In late February, when Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine, Western corporations began to pull out of the country.
Perhaps these companies were truly morally appalled by Putin's actions, or perhaps they were just virtue signaling, because helping the Russian economy by continuing to do business in its market during the war could be bad publicity.
And as Putin continues his merciless assault, the United States and our allies and partners continue to work in lockstep to ramp up the economic pressures on Putin and to further isolate Russia in a global stage.
Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, Spotify, and Intel have all pulled out of the country, citing their concern for human rights.
But these aren't the only companies that left.
Among the most popular brands to leave Russia include Starbucks and McDonald's.
Well, McDonald's is selling its business in Russia in response to the war in Ukraine.
McDonald's said today it will be closing all of its restaurants in that country for good.
The other thing I wanted to ask you about today, Bertha, is Starbucks, the latest company, big company in this country to exit Russia completely as the war with Ukraine goes on.
There's a lot more American companies are distancing themselves from Russia.
I mean, one of the major companies is Starbucks.
They just closed all 130 of their stores over there.
There's always Dunkin' Donuts, but Putin was like, nietzs, that's what America runs on.
McDonald's released a statement that explained Russia's invasion of Ukraine, led McDonald's to conclude that continuing ownership of business in Russia is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald's values.
Officially, the two fast food organizations sold their companies, but while I'm in Moscow, I thought it would be interesting to go to these places.
Do they still exist?
Has anything changed?
Does it taste different?
Do Russians miss the old and the real McDonald's in Starbucks?
Do they believe they're coming back?
First, I went to McDonald's.
It's now called Delicious and to the Point.
Virtually nothing, aesthetically, has changed.
The restaurant looks like a normal McDonald's, and the menu looks the same.
It definitely smells the same.
But is anything different?
How do the Russian people feel about it?
You know, it's better, free, democratic prices.
It's not a good service.
Well, I don't know, honestly, McDonald's a little bit liked a bit.
The interior.
Well, it changed, I don't know, maybe it's not a recipe, maybe the ingredients changed, maybe the suppliers changed.
But it's not worse or worse, it's just a bit different.
You think McDonald's is going to come back?
I understand that if they were left, they would probably lose more than the sanctions, because the people are there differently than we are here in Russia.
But we will definitely be able to come back to us, and we will be sure to come back to us.
So we will be sure and hoping and hoping and hoping.
Probably not, I don't know.
I don't know, I don't know anything at all.
The cup is very difficult, white.
Well, the coldahlen was only a lot, it was a bunch of assortment.
And that's all.
What do you want to tell us?
The same kind ofarel?
No, everything is the same.
Everything is the same.
I have very rarely been here, so I can not tell you the same.
And then I went to Starbucks coffee.
I mean, Starz.
It's called Starz Coffee now.
It looks the same.
Same branding, same look.
I got a coffee, and I asked some people what they thought.
I only tried cappuccino, and the cappuccino didn't change.
Well, I didn't see the difference, but I didn't buy anything.
But I like the place.
I often come here.
Do you think it's going to come back?
Oh, well, it's hard to think.
It's interesting to think.
I think it will come back.
Well, if the situation is going to happen, why not?
I think it will come back, yes.
Starbucks Redux00:10:53
I can't say exactly.
The taste is the same.
All right.
Do you think Starbucks will come back?
I would really like it to come back.
Do you think it's right that they're going to come back?
I don't know.
I don't want to go into politics, but I wouldn't like it to come back.
I asked the barista if it's all the same employees, and she explained that it's everyone that used to work there.
It's just a different branding name.
Well, knock me down with a feather.
Officially, at least two US-based fast food organizations sold off their Russian assets.
But if you were led to believe that these restaurants were shuttered, well, as you just saw, it's business as usual, given that all of the McDonald's and all of the Starbucks locations in Russia are still open with identical menus, albeit operating under slightly different names.
So, what other misinformation are we being told to embrace during the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
Well, here to shed some light on the situation is our New York-based rebel, Jeremy Lafredo, who just got back from Moscow.
How are you doing, Jeremy?
Thank you, David.
I'm doing well.
Thanks for having me.
Fantastic.
So, Jeremy, as I mentioned, I and I think a lot of other people, well, we thought when the likes of Starbucks and McDonald's said they were getting out of Russia that these shops, these restaurants were going to be mothballed, but that's not the situation at all.
So, Jeremy, what's going on here?
Yeah.
You know, there was a big, you know, media frenzy when we heard that hundreds of brands and hundreds of corporations are leaving Russia.
But it turns out that a lot of them have actually stayed, but they've stayed and they're now operating under Russian influence or Russian business.
So, you know, in our attempt to hurt the Russian economy by taking all of our business out of there, we've actually strengthened it, believe it or not, because now the money's going to Russia instead of going, you know, 4,000 miles back to the United States.
You know, and that is the thing, isn't it, Jeremy?
The crux of the matter of these sanctions, so-called, is that we're going to hurt the Russian economy.
In terms of food, there's going to be food shortages.
There's nothing like hungry citizens that might bring about regime change.
But that's not happening.
The ruble is very strong right now, I understand.
Russia has a trade surplus.
And there's another video where you go to Russian supermarkets, and that blew me away because they are packed.
There are no empty shelves.
And what's more, the prices compared to what we're paying on this side of the pond look really, really decent to me.
So again, why are we being told by the likes of the New York Post, or sorry, rather, the New York Times and the Washington Post, Jeremy, that we are starving the Russians into defeat?
That's clearly not happening.
It's not happening.
And I mean, it's just, you know, it's simple economics.
When you sanction, you know, a country that is a primary exporter and producer of food and energy, you might as well be sanctioning yourself because you're now going to have to pay a lot more money for these things.
So, you know, it doesn't take a genius to understand what's going on.
We just don't know how to, you know, punish, you know, this giant country that, you know, is the size of a continent and has more resources and more productivity than a lot of other places.
We don't know how to shut them out of the global economy and how to shut them out of their own economy.
You know, trying to shut them out of the global economy.
They just flip a switch.
They have a lot of domestic productivity there.
They make a lot of food there.
They make a lot of energy there.
It's hard to take that away from them.
So we've gotten ourselves in quite a pickle.
Yeah.
And not to mention the fact that what you alluded to, Russia's energy independent.
In fact, so many European countries depend on Russian oil and gas to meet their energy needs.
So this is far from a nation that is about to bend the knee.
Quite the contrary.
Jeremy, you spoke literally to hundreds of Russians during your mission over to Moscow.
And I know you have, I guess, categorized them into three different camps.
Can you explain that, please?
Sure.
So, yeah, I would fit them ideologically.
I mean, and first I'll say, you know, this idea that the people of Russia are a political monolith.
All think the same, you know, politically because they're just hounded by state propaganda.
It's very similar to the U.S. Of course, there's propaganda everywhere you turn.
But if you actually talk to people, they have tons of different views on tons of different things.
And there were people who opposed Putin because X, and there were people who opposed Putin because of Y. There were people who supported him because of X. There were people who, you know, there's tons of different political opinions there, much like any other country.
But the three main categories that I would put people in, their opinions.
First, you have, you know, Russian patriots.
They would call themselves that.
They say, you know, I'm willing to sacrifice, you know, the sanctions are affecting the way that we can send money or receive money from overseas.
They're affecting some of the tech things that we enjoy, like Adobe Premiere or like Netflix or like Spotify.
We're willing to sacrifice all those things because we truly believe that there are ethnically Russian people in the Donbass region in Ukraine that have been being attacked by their own government since 2014.
And it's our responsibility to protect these people.
I'm not saying this.
This is what they say.
It's our responsibility to protect these people because they're ethnically Russian.
They're one of us.
So it's our duty as Russians to do this.
Then there's another group of people.
They're more, maybe you would just say they're liberals.
They oppose the war because they oppose the sanctions.
And they oppose the sanctions because they're not allowed to take their vacations to Europe and they're not allowed to receive money from abroad.
And the things that they like to do, maybe they like to watch Netflix, the things that they like to do are hampered down.
And they're not opposing the war from any revolutionary, anti-war moral stance.
It's more because they want to go back to the things that they enjoy, which the sanctions have stopped them from enjoying.
And then there's another group of people that they're neutral and they can't even tell that there are any types of economic warfare being directed towards their country.
They go to the grocery store, things are fine.
They get gas, things are fine.
They don't notice anything and they're not very political.
And so they're neutral.
So that's the three.
Interesting, Jeremy.
And on this side of the pond, can you explain why there's this dereliction of duty, if you will, amongst those in the mainstream media, such as the aforementioned New York Times and the Washington Post?
Why are they not telling the truth about what's really going on in Russia today?
Yeah, I mean, that's a great question.
I mean, you know, they're much like they do with all sorts of policies, they are supporting government policy and going to great lengths to do so and, you know, putting out extraordinary propaganda to do so.
And, you know, we just had the New York Times, they were doing reporting on what's going on in Ukraine, and they didn't even let their readers know that the entire time that they were there, they were embedded with the military.
They were embedded with the government.
And so, you know, this, and, you know, if someone was to go to Russia and be embedded with the government, it would be, you know, propaganda, which it would be.
But it's funny that it's not called propaganda when it's done on the other side.
That's fascinating.
And just so our audience is clear, Jeremy, when you went to Moscow, you weren't being led around by some government agent or spokesperson or what have you.
This was all independent journalism being carried out on your part without any strings attached.
Is that correct?
No strings attached, David.
It was just me and my cell phone.
And, you know, you can see the videos.
It's just, it's my cell phone.
And I went everywhere.
I went to grocery stores.
I went to rural areas.
I went to the city.
You know, just documenting what I thought was interesting.
Well, certainly seeing as, believe me, I guess, an exit question for you, Jeremy.
When it comes to this ongoing conflict with the Ukraine, when you spoke to the average Russian on the street, well, let's put it this way.
If there was to be a referendum in terms of Putin's moves against Ukraine, does he get a passing or failing grade?
I think it's about 50-50 from the people I would speak to.
It's funny, the people who oppose Putin, they actually oppose him for the exact opposite reason that the West would oppose him.
They believe that he should have launched this military operation, this war, sooner.
So they say he's a coward for bending a knee to the West for all these years and not taking these parts of Ukraine back to Russia.
So the opposition is mostly actually from the other side than you would expect.
But the young people that I spoke to, they oppose Putin just how the people here oppose Putin.
They say, you know, he's authoritarian.
He should leave Ukraine alone.
And so the young people are very much, you know, I think they're consuming Western media and they are under the impression that Putin is bad.
And then the other people are consuming Russian media and they're under the impression that Putin is good.
So, you know, it's very nuanced.
It's a very interesting situation.
And I went there and I only became, you know, more confused by some things.
Like, you know, I just, I couldn't understand some stuff.
And I think that's what when you go somewhere and you go try to investigate something, that's what ends up happening.
Well, that is interesting about younger people consuming Western media because I think when it comes to the New York Times and the Washington Post, I think you might get more truth out of Pravda than those two media outlets.
So holy mackerel.
GM's Twitter Dilemma00:11:16
Well, Jeremy, I want to congratulate you on excellent journalism.
It was just superb what you did, showing people what the reality on the ground is.
And regardless of one's politics and who they're supporting in this conflict, your videos really served as a much needed anecdote to the kind of propaganda we've been served up these last several weeks by the mainstream media.
So thank you for that, Jeremy.
And you have a wonderful weekend, my friend.
Thank you, David.
You got it.
And that was Jeremy Lafredo in New York City.
Keep it here, folks.
More of Rebel Roundup to come right after this.
David Menzies for Rebel News here in Oshawa, Ontario.
And folks, I'm at the under-renovation headquarters for General Motors of Canada.
And the reason why I'm here, well, it's to give a letter and an invoice to Miss Erin Strollovich, she, her.
She is the GM executive who last Sunday invited us to go to the Ingersoll GM plant.
It was for an announcement by the prime minister and the premier.
And there was going to be a plant tour.
Ingersoll is the plant that's being retooled.
And they're going to be producing soon EV commercial vehicles.
However, a not-so-funny thing happened on the way into the plant.
Basically, within the space of less than 24 hours, our invitation became a disinvitation.
Here, check out the video evidence.
Rebel News is not allowed to.
You being told no.
Yes.
Oh, hang on a second.
I think there's been a mistake here.
I've got a confirmation from Aaron Strolovich.
She, her.
Yeah, hang on.
I'll find out.
We're not allowed access for you guys.
Oh, I think there's been a mistake, sir.
Aaron Strolovich last night.
That's our confirmation.
See?
And that came in last night at 5.41 p.m.
And we've driven two hours to get here, so I'd love to confirm that.
Thank you.
You're not allowed in.
Why is that, sir?
Why is that?
You're just not allowed in.
Just rebel news and no access.
Okay, well, this confirmation says differently.
My supervisor says differently, too.
Who is your supervisor?
My supervisor is inside.
Oh, and his name would be.
You want to talk to him?
I would like to because I think there's a mistake.
I've got here in writing from Aaron Strolovich, she-her, that we are confirmed right there.
Confirmation.
Cami EV assembly grand opening.
I just asked him right now.
There's no access right now.
Okay, why would somebody late last night on Sunday approve us?
We drive here two hours to a media event.
We are media.
And then is somebody inside this building who you don't even give me his name says we're not allowed to shoot.
Alex Shu.
You can talk to him.
Okay.
You go try and get a hold of him.
You're blocking the line.
No, no, no.
You're blocking the line.
You're holding up the line.
No, no, you're holding up.
No, no, this guy's holding us up.
No, you are.
No, no, this guy.
Who are you?
Who are you?
So, yes, my ace cameraman, Lincoln J, and I were suddenly deemed to be persona non-grata, or at least media non-grata.
We were not only disinvited for no good reason, or for any reason for that matter, but we were told to leave the premises under threat of trespass.
Unbelievable.
In any event, we thought this was highly unprofessional at best, vindictive at worst.
I mean, what happened?
Was GM told by the prime minister or the premier or both that we are not media to be entertained?
And that is why we got the heave-ho?
If so, that's disgraceful.
Although I do understand GM's strategy here, folks.
If that was the case, well, you know, the next time GM goes belly up, you want to have friends in high places to give you that taxpayer-funded bailout.
And certainly, GM is really rolling the dice, I think, in its plans to go 100% electrical in the years ahead.
So when GM needed help, we gave them $300 from every single Canadian.
And after that, nearly $11 billion bailout.
GM continues to expand in Mexico, leaving workers out in the cold.
But we look upon this business of being invited and then disinvited at the last moment as essentially being a breach of contract.
It's kind of like making a reservation at a restaurant and then not bothering to show up.
So we decided to calculate the time incurred by Lincoln and I, the mileage that we both drove, the 407 ETR tolls, and we have an invoice here.
It's for the neighborhood of $1,600.
And I'm going to drop it off to Ms. Strollovich, she-her, and hopefully they'll make good on that payment.
And if not, hey, as the saying goes, see you in court.
Well, wouldn't you know it, Aaron Strolovich, she-her, as well as all the other GM executives, apparently work from home these days.
So we ended up emailing the letter and invoice to Ms. Strolovich, she-her.
And if GM decides not to make reparations, we will indeed sue the general in small claims court.
As far as we're concerned, we were robbed of our time and our resources, and we will not let this stand, folks.
Oh, and another thing, if this does go to court, I'll be doing cartwheels because during the process of disclosure, maybe then we'll get to find out who ordered GM to disinvite us.
Was it Prime Minister Trudeau or was it his new best boyfriend, Premier Doug Ford, or maybe both?
Hey guys, you want to play hardball?
Let's play hardball.
In any event, you had plenty to say about GM's egregious public relations strategy.
Westcan writes, GM has lost our business for good.
We have two vehicles that their leases are up on April 1st, 23, and we will be returning those two vehicles and going with another car manufacturer because of their fascist woke policies.
And Trudeau got that trod like she heard to invite you to the event and then canceled on you.
These people are the evil we are fighting in the world today.
My wife and I love Rebel News and appreciate all that you do for Canadians.
Well, you know what?
That is absolutely fantastic.
I really appreciate your support, sir.
And isn't it wonderful that GM certainly doesn't have a monopoly?
There are so many great car companies and great cars to choose from.
You won't be disappointed.
And MM Beer writes, I saw more than a few guys on GM's Twitter site go on there and let GM know that they had canceled their truck orders.
This was due rather to GM announcing that they would no longer advertise on Twitter as Musk had just purchased the platform.
One guy made a point of saying that as soon as he found out that GM did not believe in the First Amendment, he immediately canceled his truck order and had already placed an order with Ram for the truck he wanted.
Yeah, imagine that.
GM somehow finds it offensive that Elon Musk is standing up for freedom of speech and the First Amendment.
But what woke cowards they are, eh?
That's the thing about GM.
If their marketing plan and business strategies flop and the company goes belly up, big deal.
They'll just lobby the governments on both sides of the border for yet another taxpayer-funded bailout.
Pathetic.
Roger Moses writes: I'm really getting sick and tired of people claiming Rebel News is not media or journalists and keeping their employees out of the loop.
They give much better accounts of current events than CBC, Global, CTV, etc.
Well, thank you kindly, Roger.
And there were two sidebar stories taking place at the GM Ingersoll plant that day that received absolutely zero mainstream media attention.
For starters, there was an anti-Trudeau protest taking place outside the main entrance.
No coverage.
And get a load of this.
About 200 tradespeople and programmers who are still working on refurbishing this plant were told to stay home that day, missing out on eight hours worth of work plus two hours worth of overtime.
They were not given a reason why they had to stay home, but apparently the unspoken reason was that GM did not want anyone to give Trudeau the bird or display one of those F Trudeau flags.
And you know how sensitive Prime Minister Blackface McGroper is when it comes to well-deserved criticism these days.
John Grice writes, who else was invited and got canceled or was this personal to Rebel News?
You know, that's an excellent question, John.
I can tell you this, we didn't see any other media turned away that day.
In fact, the likes of the CBC were practically given the red carpet treatment.
But here's the thing: if they didn't want us there, why'd they invite us in the first place?
Ellis89 writes, LOL, you can't resist twisting the knife with that she, her inclusion.
Can you, David?
Hey, Ellis89, if the woksters out there continue to flag their gender pronouns or whatever in their personal bio, who am I to be so insensitive when it comes to acquiescing to their demands?
And finally, Up North writes, thanks, David.
Great report.
As a die-hard Chevy/slash GM supporter, I will never buy again from this woke company.
Too bad GM was a great company years ago, RIPGM.
Well, up north, it is sad, isn't it?
My first vehicle was a Chevy, and I truly want the domestic auto industry to succeed.
I really do.
I want them to build good products and employ thousands and thousands of Canadians and Americans.
But for decades, GM has suffered from grotesque mismanagement.
I mean, you go back some 60 years ago and GM's market share in the U.S. and Canada hovered around 50%.
Self-Inflicted Wounds00:01:03
Unbelievable.
But these days, it's less than 16%.
That's brutal.
And a big part of the reason for this decline is that for decades now, GM has been building too many cars in too many factories that too few people want to buy in an automotive sector that is uber competitive.
These are self-inflicted wounds by the general, by the way.
And then they pull a stunt like this, it is pathetic beyond words.
Oh, and another thing, how dare that the new Corvette is offered only with an automatic transmission?
How can you manufacture a six-figure sports car without giving buyers the option of having a stick shift?
Man, GM, they just keep blowing it, don't they?
Well, that wraps up another edition of Rebel Roundup.
Thanks so much for joining us and have yourselves a fantastic weekend.
See you next week, of course.
And hey, folks, never forget, without risk, there can be no glory.