The Pandemic Is Undoing the World’s Populists

A demonstrator arranges a flag on a blanket arranged to resemble a gurney during a protest against the government's pandemic response outside of the Raul Gazzola hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 24.

Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosts his Polish and Italian allies today to explore the foundation of a new populist party in Europe. In truth, their timing could be better.

With Covid-19 ravaging all three countries, it’s not the best advertisement for their brand of right-wing identity politics as an antidote to the coronavirus. Poland is struggling with its worst virus wave yet, while Hungary has the highest death rate in the world right now.