Giorgia Meloni’s recent speech struck a chord with the Right, yet it also exposed its inherent contradictions
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently made headlines with her fiery remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the US. Speaking via video link, she claimed that the global Right is unfairly branded as a threat to democracy, while the Left enjoys undeserved legitimacy. In her speech, she drew a parallel between figures like Donald Trump, Argentina’s Javier Milei and India’s Narendra Modi, arguing that when the Left created a global network in the 1990s, it was celebrated, whereas today’s Right is vilified for doing the same. While Meloni’s argument taps into the grievances of conservative movements worldwide, it is riddled with logical gaps and selective reasoning. Meloni paints a picture of right-wing leaders as persecuted underdogs fighting against an entrenched leftist establishment. However, the reality is more complex. The rise of leaders like Trump, Milei and Modi demonstrates that conservative politics is not an underdog movement but a dominant force in many parts of the world. Trump served as the President of the United States, Narendra Modi is in his third term as India’s Prime Minister and Milei recently won the Argentine presidency. If anything, the Right has been steadily gaining power rather than being systematically oppressed. Moreover, Meloni’s assertion that the world no longer believes in the Left’s “lies” is an oversimplification.
The political landscape remains deeply divided, with both right-wing and left-wing parties winning elections in different parts of the world.
While conservative movements have gained momentum, liberal and progressive politics continue to hold substantial influence. The notion that people have wholesale rejected the Left is misleading and fails to acknowledge the electoral victories of left-leaning leaders in countries like Brazil, Germany and Spain. Trump’s tenure was marked by an unprecedented number of falsehoods, ranging from his claims about election fraud to downplaying the COVID-19 pandemic. If the global Right is positioning itself as a movement rooted in truth, aligning with a figure like Trump severely undermines that claim. The argument that the Right is unfairly labelled as a threat to democracy also ignores the legitimate concerns surrounding authoritarian tendencies within conservative movements. Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 US election and the subsequent Capitol riot were direct attacks on democratic institutions. Similarly, Modi’s government has faced criticism for suppressing dissent and Milei has made inflammatory remarks about eliminating key government institutions. Indeed, Meloni’s speech captures the defiant spirit of the modern Right, but it also exposes its selective reasoning and internal contradictions. While it is true that right-wing movements have gained traction, it does not follow that concerns about the Right’s democratic integrity are unfounded. Yes, the world may be more right than left at the moment—but that does not mean all is right with the Right.
