Giorgia Meloni – Italy’s first female prime minister and first right-wing leader since 2011 – is now one of the more popular leaders worldwide, crushing President Joe Biden’s approval rating after 100 days in office, according to a global Morning Consult survey.
Meloni’s approval rating is 53% of Italians, which easily tops Biden’s 41%, and ranks her as the sixth most popular leader in the world.
Meloni, who was written off by the media and lambasted as a “fascist” for her campaign slogan of “God, country, and family” has beaten the odds and pleased her supporters thus far.
“The first thing I will say is that the expectations were very low,” King’s College political science professor Cecilia Emma Sottilotta told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“There was much alarm, right? Before the election, and right after the election, everybody was like, ‘Neo-fascist government,’ whatever. What is going to happen? There was a lot of insecurity and uncertainty about, for instance, what she would do visiting NATO.”
Throughout her campaign, Meloni drew praise from popular conservatives in America, while also drawing baseless critiques from Biden.
The Daily Caller reports:
Meloni delivered a 2019 speech highlighting individual identity and traditional values while criticizing the establishment for trying to create the “perfect consumer,” which received praise from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. However, this rhetoric and her campaign slogan, “God, country, and family,” led many liberal media outlets, like The Washington Post or the Guardian, to suggest the Italian leader is mirroring rhetoric used by dictator Benito Mussolini.
"I am Giorgia. I am a woman. I am a mother. I am Italian. I am Christian. You will not take that from me."
They’re terrified of Giorgia Meloni. This is her speech from 2019. pic.twitter.com/4RpMVEx0HP
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 27, 2022
In addition, President Joe Biden insinuated her rise to power could threaten democratic elections in the U.S.
“On a social level, this government has not yet done something to help migrants or members of the LGBTQ+ community. Instead, it is more concentrated on creating a type of government that focuses on a stronger central power which is a possible reality thanks to great majority support,” says professor of International Political Economy of King’s College Leila Simona Talani in an interview with the DCNF.
Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Bologna Gianfranco Pasquino told the Daily Caller that Meloni’s political success thus far has outpaced the past administration of Mario Draghi.
“What should be stressed is that she is a politician,” Pasquino said.
“Trustworthy politicians want to last, and therefore, they never want to exaggerate. They try to be, in a way, responsible. They respond to the wishes of their voters. They respond somewhat to do what they promised and then try to adjust it. From this point of view, she is doing much better than the previous administration.”
