The U.S. elections are, of course, of interest not only to America but, for so many reasons, to the whole world. Not only because of what the U.S. represents in terms of military, cultural and political power, but also because the whole world, especially the Western world, always looks to America as the home of democracy, as the symbol of democracy itself, of which the presidential elections are in some ways somewhat the summa of the liturgies.
Among the countries watching with great interest of the U.S. elections is, of course, Italy, which has extraordinary relations i with America for a thousand anthropological, cultural, political, commercial, military reasons, but it is especially interesting how Italy so far has described in its media, the big newspapers, the TV talk shows, the big Internet sites, the public debate, what is happening in America. I also keep for the Italpress news agency a column called USA 24 where, in weekly connection with Stefano Vaccara, correspondent since October 2023 just of Italpress, we tell a little bit about this whole adventure, this whole journey that will lead to the elections in November.
So far, there has been considerable space in Italian newspapers for American lessons: there has been a great deal of attention to the primaries, the trial of Trump, the assassination attempt on Trump, Joe Biden’s physical difficulties, the Democratic Party’s painful decision to replace the current presidential candidate; then the Republicans’ convention in Milwaukee and, in these days, the closing of the Democratic convention in Chicago, with Kamala Harris formally accepting her party’s nomination for president of the United States.
Having said that, it is then a matter of seeing what kind of attention is and has been, what is the Italian view, let’s say as a whole, with respect to this major political and social event. Let’s say that, up to this point, the analysis was basically impartial, with the usual concerns that have always accompanied, especially from the dominant leftist mainstream about Trump, so Trump’s insanity and Trump’s egotism, his disrespectful view of institutions, what Trump would then do with NATO, what Trump would do with the big open international issues-especially the conflict in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East. Now, with the change in the race and the arrival of Kamala Harris, it seems that the narrative is very much shifted to sort of rooting for her, because she is young, because she comes from a political background in the great and progressive California, because with respect to the world of rights she is certainly more sensitive, given her personal history, and I’m also referring to the issue of immigration.
It is as if a magical halo has been created around her figure, or rather, a part of the Italian political cultural world is creating it. A world that appears tranquilized in the case of Kamala’s victory, as long as it does not have to deal with the villain, with the gloomy, with the unpredictable, with the super reactionary on even immigration and civil and sexual rights that is The Donald. in short, a large part of Italian culture, a large part of the Italian mainstream, taking away some hundred-right newspapers, are looking with great attention at the success of the Vice President, described now as an all-around positive figure, the future, the light, progress, reassurance. Now Obama is also rewritten and adapted: no longer Yes I can, but Yes we can, we all can, we of the world, those of that culture, we can do it. in short, Italy has already expressed its great voters.
The article Trump and Harris in Italian style comes from TheNewyorker.
