Reportage
Italians – and Salvini – react to the assassination attempt against Trump
There were nearly unanimous pleas for calm and unity from Rome. But the flailing Lega leader decided to fan the flames with accusations of ‘a certain violent tone adopted by the left.’
From the first moments after the attack on Trump, Italian politicians spoke in unison: outrage, indignation, calls for restraint and isolation of those with violent tendencies – all the respectable classics.
Then it was Matteo Salvini’s turn, and, as always, he decided to go above and beyond – or off the deep end entirely.
“A certain violent tone adopted by the left risks putting weapons in the hands of the feeble-minded: it happened in the U.S., it also happened in Italy against Berlusconi. I hope it won't happen again,” wrote the vice-premier on his social media.
By noon on Sunday, interviewed by TG1, he went further: “I hope this serves as a lesson for some who are sowing words of hate, whether against right-wingers, fascists, racists, against Trump, Bolsonaro, Fico or other figures.”
His salvoes should be read in the context of the low-intensity war that the Lega leader has been waging against Giorgia Meloni, more or less since the European elections: the Lega's loss of electoral support, only partly mitigated by the many votes for General Vannacci, convinced Salvini that in order to regain the lost ground, he needs to dial up the extreme tone, demagogic arguments and self-victimization. So far, the polls don’t seem to show him reaping any rewards for his efforts, but in truth there aren’t many alternative routes available to him. So, we can only expect more and more outlandish statements from the declining Lega leader.
With that sole exception, the attack on Trump led to a chorus of national unity in Italy. From the Quirinale Palace, President Sergio Mattarella described the attack at the Butler rally as “a cause for serious alarm and strong indignation.” He denounced “the violence that for some time has come back into the political arena,” something that he deems to be “a disconcerting symptom of the deterioration of the civil fabric and the dangerous rejection of conversation, dialogue and respect for democratic life.”
Prime Minister Meloni struck a similar tone: “I am sending my sympathy to Trump and my wishes for a speedy recovery, with the hope that the coming months of campaigning will see dialogue and responsibility prevail over hatred and violence.”
From the government alliance, Antonio Tajani also took care to stay far away from Salvini’s follies: “The message we have to convey, in Italy and in the world, is that we always fight for our ideas and against the ideas of our opponents, but never against people. The adversary is the idea, not the person: this is the message we must send to prevent people from turning political messages into physical violence.”
The opposition also expressed shock and solidarity. Elly Schlein said that “the PD condemns the attack on Donald Trump in the strongest possible terms. Political violence must find no place in our democracies.” She continued with a call for “all those who care about democracy, in the United States and elsewhere” to “firmly oppose any kind of hateful language and political violence.”
M5S leader Giuseppe Conte – who had the opportunity to interact with Trump on a number of occasions when he was Prime Minister – was on the same page: “Gunfire at a rally is a disturbing signal. There can be no room for hate in a democratic contest. U.S. democracy appears as fragile as it has ever been. I wish Donald Trump a speedy recovery and express my utmost sympathy for the families of those in the audience who lost their lives or were seriously injured in the shooting.”
Finally, it’s worth mentioning the wild fake news story that originated on X, from the profile of a user called “Mussolinho,” and then circulated halfway around the world thanks to the nonexistent fact checking of some conspiracy media platforms: according to Mussolinho, Trump’s would-be assassin had been supposedly identified as “Mark Violets,” whom he described as “a member of Antifa.” Next to that description was the photo of Marco Violi, an Italian who runs a soccer website. Of course, the story had nothing to do with reality.
“I was woken up in the middle of the night, at 2 a.m. to be precise, by the many notifications I was getting on Instagram and X,” Violi wrote on social media. “I’m in Italy, I’m in Rome, and I had no idea what had happened until I turned on Sky TG 24. The news circulating about me is totally baseless and has been pushed by a group of haters who have been trying to ruin my life since 2018, stalking me at my home, posting photos of my intercom and my front door. They are real stalkers.” Violi announced that he would press charges against these individuals on Monday.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/attentato-a-trump-le-reazioni-italiane-salvini-rompe-lunita-nazionale on 2024-07-14