Dutch Extremist Wilders Channels Donald Trump’s Politics of Division
- The Freedom Party leader harnassed Dutch fears about migration
- But he still faces a challenge to stitch together a coalition
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When far-right leader Geert Wilders delivered his victory speech after the shock Dutch election result, he emphasized a willingness to compromise with other parties.
But his campaign had hit on all the familiar themes of his long crusade against the migrants that he says are destroying his country’s culture. People don’t forget those kind of diatribes, and many voters who backed other parties are worried that the Netherlands is about to lurch into the kind of populist politics that characterized Donald Trump’s presidency in the US.