Bannon wants to make Europe more Trumpian
Early last month, Steve Bannon—the man who designed Donald Trump’s America First strategy in 2016—scored a win for his newest political crusade: to forge a continentwide populist movement that will triumph in European Parliament elections next May.
In his first enlistment of a major European leader, Bannon convinced Matteo Salvini, the most powerful politician in Italy’s new nationalist-populist government, to sign up with his Brussels-based project, known as the Movement. Bannon’s goal: to meld Europe’s diverse nationalist and populist parties into a broad alliance that will undo the European Union.
Having been ousted from the White House, Bannon believes Europe is ripe for a political tsunami that builds on populist gains within individual countries. He views a takeover of the EU parliament as the path to remaking—or dissolving—it.
Down that road lie economic and political chaos, the further weakening of America’s key allies, and a potential slide toward illiberal democracy in several European countries.
At a conference in Budapest in May, Bannon proclaimed: “The populist nationalist revolt is about a year ahead in Europe than in the United States.” He believes tea party-style populism is a global phenomenon on the upswing.
So, as Americans debate the impact of populism at home, it’s worth paying attention to Bannon’s maneuvers in Europe over the coming eight months.
Italy is a good place to start. A former radio disc jockey, Salvini heads the nationalist, anti-immigrant League party in a coalition with a strange internet-based party known as the Five Star Movement.
The new government is hostile to the European Union, is pro-Russia, and has a distinctly Trumpian attitude toward the media. Salvini has 3.2 million followers on Facebook and 880,400 on Twitter and imitates Trump with constant, offensive nuggets. The Five Star Movement, for its part, was notorious for spreading fake news and conspiracy theories on its network of websites. Meantime, the coalition government has appointed an Infowars, Alex Jones-style conspiracy theorist to head its public TV station.
I asked the distinguished Italian journalist Lucia Annunziata what use Bannon was to Salvini and the new Italian government. “They get celebrity from Bannon,” she replied swiftly. “They say we can use him, as he uses us.”
She added that Bannon, and Trump, had already had a stimulating effect on populist parties that were once derided in Europe. “Trump provided a change of atmosphere, the template to say this is how it is done, how it can work,” she said. “He provided a major inspiration, a change of mood.”
As for Bannon: “He’s the guy who has galvanized the nationalist, sovereignty-first movements.” Although he failed in prior efforts to organize a social-media empire in Europe, “he is a good manipulator.”
Moreover, says Annunziata, “The idea of transnational lists (to run in the European Parliament) is popular now.” Bannon could help Europe’s populist parties form an alliance that ran a single list, while offering them the expertise in polling, data analytics, and voter turnout he provided to Trump.
A look around Europe makes clear why Bannon is ebullient. Britain is heading toward the March 29 deadline for a Brexit from Europe, without any domestic agreement on an exit plan. All the cheery economic promises made to voters by Brexit supporters have proven false, but no one yet knows how to stop the process. And there’s no guarantee that a second referendum, if held, would yield a different result.
Meantime, Germany’s Angela Merkel, a strong EU defender, is seriously weakened by political challenges within her own party. The nationalist-populist Alternative fur Deutschland party is now the main opposition and gaining strength.
None of the above guarantees Bannon’s project will take off. However, if he succeeds, Bannon’s Movement could change the face of Europe and prove that the populist trend is truly global. So put May 23 and May 29—the dates when voters will choose a new European Parliament—on your calendar to watch.