Conservative leadership candidate Maxime Bernier defended himself against accusations of misogyny late Monday night after posting a sci-fi-themed meme on Twitter which asks,”Will you choose the red pill?”

The “red pill” meme — a reference to a scene in the film The Matrix in which the protagonist learns he’s living in a simulation — has been exploited by alt-right sites and so-called ‘men’s rights’ activists, many of whom express noxious views about women online. The documentary The Red Pill follows a filmmaker’s experiences discovering the “polarizing Men’s Rights Movement.”

My Matrix meme with @Dfildebrandt obviously refers only to the Matrix movie and to nothing else. — Maxime Bernier ?? (@MaximeBernier) March 7, 2017

Bernier’s meme sparked immediate criticism online. Leadership candidate Lisa Raitt tweeted, “Max – wth? Please tell me your team knows that this is more than a Matrix reference?”

Max – wth? Please tell me your team knows that this is more than a Matrix reference? https://t.co/VmvG2JPQC2 — Lisa Raitt (@lraitt) March 7, 2017

Leadership candidate Erin O’Toole asked Bernier to clarify his post.

@MaximeBernier I think you should clarify this post. This could be taken the wrong way & I’m sure that was not the intent — Erin O’Toole (@ErinOTooleMP) March 7, 2017

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s principle secretary Gerald Butts weighed in, tweeting, “Is this fake? Hope so.”

Is this fake? Hope so. https://t.co/kr4JlaJVH0 — Gerald Butts ?? (@gmbutts) March 7, 2017

Assume a full apology & retraction very soon if it was a mistake. Unbelievably awful if it wasn’t. https://t.co/NpeQ3cpurO — Gerald Butts ?? (@gmbutts) March 7, 2017

Butts and Conservative radio host Andrew Lawton got in a Twitter spat after Lawton suggested the red pill reference wasn’t referring to anything other than the Matrix.

. @AndrewLawton certainly knows what Bernier’s tweet referred to. He did a show about it. 1/2 https://t.co/m4aedhLPQr — Gerald Butts ?? (@gmbutts) March 7, 2017

Bernier continued to retweet supporters who defended him.

Need a better reason to vote @MaximeBernier for CPC leader? Liberals just freaked out over a meme — Astrid K ???? (@Libertarian_Ace) March 7, 2017

@TuesCheek @MaximeBernier this is really embarrassing from the left. Losing their mind over a meme. Clearly Max threatens them. — Curtis ?? (@FowlCanuck) March 7, 2017

Are ppl srsly suggesting the probable frontrunner for #cpclde is making a coded appeal to the pro-rape crowd? How does that make any sense? — Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) March 7, 2017