Trump speaks at Spain rally of global far-right via video, urging ‘lots of very good conservative things’
- Former US president appeared in video shown at Madrid rally, which also showed messages from Hungary’s Orban and Italy’s Meloni
- Spain’s far-right Vox party’s leader Abascal called Trump ‘a visionary in the fight for sovereign nations and fight for secure borders’
Former US President Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind Spain’s far-right in a video shown at a rally in Madrid that also featured messages by the leading stars of Europe’s populist right like Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.
In a recording that lasted under 40 seconds made while Trump was on an aeroplane, Trump thanked Spain’s far-right Vox party and its leader Santiago Abascal for what he called the “great job” they do.
“We have to make sure that we protect our borders and do lots of very good conservative things,” Trump said. “Spain is a great country and we want to keep it a great country. So congratulations to Vox for so many great messages you get out to the people of Spain and the people of the world.”
Vox captured national attention on Spain’s political landscape in 2019 when it became the third-largest force in Spain’s parliament after an election that led to a national left-wing coalition that still holds power.
Vox’s messages include zero tolerance for Catalan separatism, disdain for gender equality, diatribes against unauthorised immigration from Africa and embracing the legacy of General Francisco Franco’s 20th-century dictatorship.
Abascal returned the flattery when he took to the stage at the outdoor venue after more video messages by European and South American right-wing politicians and an in-person speech by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.