Geert Wilders Didn't Take Over The Netherlands After All

Remember when Geert Wilders was poised to take over Europe? Browsing English-language coverage of the Dutch elections, you might have assumed the far-right party leader—who won praise from nativist controversy-hunter and Iowa Representative Steve King—was sure to be the most popular politician the Netherlands and would solidify the extreme-right’s grip on the West. That didn’t happen, but it’d be similarly wrong to think, after an election campaign where the winning party appeared to adopt some of Wilders' anti-migrant rhetoric, that his defeat is a clear victory for anti-Trumpism.

Maybe this isn’t so surprising. We live in a climate of political upheaval right now, and Wilders, at least during the election, functioned as a visually memorable bellwether for the West’s swing to the far right. Still, there’s a problem with the English-language media’s obsession with him. Among British and American publications, the Wilders worries were as much a projection of domestic angst as a reflection of Dutch reality.