Editor’s Note: This story was updated on March 8, 2023, because an earlier version of the story did not meet CNN editorial standards.
Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said earlier this week he would support a convoy of Canadian truckers protesting Covid-19 vaccine mandates disrupting Sunday’s Super Bowl in Los Angeles and making its way to Washington, saying he hopes they “clog” American cities.
“I’m all for it,” Paul told conservative publication The Daily Signal on Wednesday. “Civil disobedience is a time-honored tradition in our country, from slavery to civil rights, you name it. Peaceful protest, clog things up, make people think about the mandates.”
“I hope the truckers do come to America,” he added.
Paul has been vocal against Covid-19 mitigation efforts.
CNN has reached out to his office for comment.
Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security warned state and local law enforcement across the country that it had “received reports of truck drivers planning to potentially block roads in major metropolitan cities in the United States in protest of, among other things, vaccine mandates for truck drivers.”
“The convoy will potentially begin in California as early as mid-February and arrive in Washington, DC, as late as mid-March, potentially impacting the Super Bowl LVI scheduled for 13 February and the State of the Union Address scheduled for 1 March,” the bulletin said.
Recent protests blockading Canada’s capital and obstructing a US-Canadian border crossing began among truckers protesting a recent mandate requiring drivers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements.
The Canadian protests have already affected Americans and the US economy, with three major US business groups, as well as auto industry trade groups, warning in recent days that the protests are putting additional stress on an already struggling supply chain.
