Canadian dad Shawn McCormick looks “scarily” like Australia’s unpopular prime minister, to the point that McCormick’s son vowed to protect him on a recent trip down under.
The last time Shawn visited his son Keiran on the Gold Coast, they noticed people staring at him, Keiran, 22, told HuffPost Canada. Shawn was also asked at a Chinese food shop if he was, in fact, “Scomo,” a.k.a. Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
That’s when “we found out that my dad looks scarily like Scott Morrison,” Keiran said.
So, Keiran, who just graduated from university in Australia, and his sister had a T-shirt made up in time for his father’s visit last week.
The shirt proclaims, ’“I am not Scott Morrison” and features a headshot of the prime minister’s face with a giant red cross superimposed.
It’s not an ideal time to be Morrison’s doppelgänger. Morrison is facing widespread criticism for travelling to Hawaii and posing for photos on the beach while Australian wildfires rage, killing two volunteers, injuring close to a dozen others so far and destroying properties.
Watch: Scott Morrison apologies for family holiday. Story continues below.
“Knowing (Scomo’s), well, recent decline in popularity among a considerable population, my sister and I decided it was best to make (my dad) a funny T-shirt to keep him safe,” Keiran told HuffPost Canada.
Shawn, an Ottawa software executive, 53, wore it every other day, getting laughs from Australians, tourists and police officers.
He and the T-shirt are a hit on social media.
“He’s a really good sport!” Keiran said. “Since his popularity, he has been killing himself laughing at all the people who want to talk to him.”
Shawn is asking his new fans consider making donations to firefighting services and koala rescues in the areas impacted by bushfires.
Back in Ottawa, he’ll continue wearing his new favourite T-shirt, including to Christmas Eve dinner, his son said.
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