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Italy’s Election Front-Runner Sheds Far-Right Image, Courts the West

Giorgia Meloni co-founded the Brothers of Italy party, which is leading in opinion polls.Photo: YARA NARDI/REUTERS

ROME—Three years ago, Giorgia Meloni, then the leader of a small far-right party, took the stage before a large crowd gathered in front of one of Rome’s most revered churches and delivered a speech that turned her into a pop-culture sensation.

“I am Giorgia! I am a woman! I am a mother! I am Italian! I am Christian! And you can’t take that away from me,” she boomed. After the rally, two amateur DJs remixed that phrase into an electro-dance track. Intended to mock her, the track instead went viral and boosted her popularity among conservative voters looking for new leadership.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/italys-election-front-runner-sheds-far-right-image-courts-the-west-11664025001