Biden: Meloni's Victory in Italy a Warning for U.S. Democracy
(Newsmax/"The Chris Salcedo Show")
By Luca Cacciatore | Thursday, 29 September 2022 06:33 PM EDT
President Joe Biden condemned Italian politician Giorgia Meloni for her coalition's victory last week, warning that her likely election as prime minister is a caution for American democracy, the Daily Mail reported.
During a Wednesday fundraiser for the Democratic Governors' Association in Washington, D.C., Biden warned against a slew of victories worldwide for right-wing populist candidates, arguing that the same zeal could find its home in the U.S.
"You just saw what's happened in Italy in that election. You're seeing what's happening around the world," Biden stated. "The reason I bother to say that is you can't be sanguine about what's happening here, either. I don't want to exaggerate it, but I don't want to understate it."
Meloni and her "center-right coalition," made up of Matteo Salvini's Lega Nord and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, won a combined 44% of the vote in the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies on Sunday.
Her victory continues similar trends seen around Europe in 2022, with Sweden's right-wing party achieving a resounding victory only several weeks ago. Before that, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban defeated a combined opposition ticket for another term.
Orban himself recently spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference this year in Dallas, receiving the approval of event attendees. The five-term prime minister is also considered an international ally of former President Donald Trump.
"The right-wing European leader hit guaranteed applause lines — including telling the Texas crowd that 'Hungary is the Lone Star State of Europe' — and criticizing liberals, the news media and the Democratic Party," CNN reporter Michael Warren wrote.