Cool to be far right? Young Europeans are stirring a political youthquake.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Cool to be far right? Young Europeans are stirring a political youthquake.

By Anthony Faiola and Catarina Fernandes Martins
March 8, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. EST



Rita Matias, a far-right lawmaker and social media influencer, poses with students at the Sebastião da Gama High School in Setúbal, Portugal, on Feb. 21. ( Gonçalo Fonseca for The Washington Post)

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SETÚBAL, Portugal — The surprising voters driving the far right’s surge in Europe scrambled for selfies inside a suburban auditorium. Rita Matias, 25, an ultraconservative and social media influencer, had just called for migrant quotas and curbs on abortion in a political debate. Now, her more progressive opponents in staid blazers and pullovers watched like wallflowers as star-struck 18-year-olds jostled for photos with the young woman in a photogenic taupe cardigan.

“Are you a party member?” she asked one fan, who shyly shook his head. “No? Don’t worry. We’ll get you signed up.”

On a continent better known for left-wing youth activism a la Greta Thunberg, polls show that young Europeans are fueling the growth of the far right from France to Sweden to the Netherlands. And in a year when former president Donald Trump is making a bid to take back the White House, multiple European governments may be headed for a rightward shift, propelled by voters in their late teens, 20s and early 30s.

The first major test is in Portugal, in an election on Sunday.

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[markodochartaigh]

1. While I wish that we had more

than two viable parties, and more than one viable party committed to democracy, havong multiple parties is not a panacea. In Portugal the center-left and center-right parties are numerically balanced and this is leaving an opening for the far-right party. I could see this happening in the US if there were more corporate Republicans. The Romney/Bush/McCain Republicans might offset the Clinton/Obama Democratic voters, maybe each 25% of the electorate, and the maga Republicans could swing elections with 33% of the electorate.