DUTCH ANTI-IMMIGRATION PARTY PUNISHED FOR CARELESS REMARKS BY YOUTH WING

Thierry Baudet and Freek Jansen (yes, that's his real name)

With the establishment always poised to attack, it's hard work being a nationalist, anti-globalist, or anti-immigrant party these days. But it's even harder when you take your eye off the Youth Wing and they end up saying something stupid on social media. 

This is what has happened to Holland's anti-immigration Forum for Democracy Party, after remarks by members of its youth wing the JFvD created unnecessary flak for the party just a few months before elections. 

The comments were politically embarrassing for the party's leader Thierry Baudet who later had to win a vote of confidence against critics within the party.

So what exactly were the comments? In November the daily morning newspaper De Volkskrant reported:

Extremism within the JFvD has been known for some time. In April, HP / De Tijd [monthly opinion magazine] published a story about extreme statements made in app groups by JFVD'ers. In one group, for example, National Socialism was called the 'best economic formula ever'. Another group member stated that he would adhere to 'literally every ideology' that would make the Netherlands '95% white again with 0% Muslims'.

[Newspaper] Het Parool published new details on Saturday. One 23-year-old student in an political discussion app group said that "Jews have international pedo networks and massively help women into pornography" and that "National Socialism had the best economic formula ever." Another JFvD'er posted in a music app groups the music that the extreme right-wing Australian terrorist played on his way to two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he murdered 51 people.

So how did the party leadership deal with this "optics challenge"?

Well, it basically kicked out those responsible for the comments, but resisted calls to disband the Youth wing or fire its leader, Freek Jansen, a close associate of the party's leader.

Back in 2019, the FvD was actually leading opinion polls in Holland, with over 25% support, but with around 90 days to the election, the party has suffered a further slump because of this "scandal" from around 8% to 4%. Let's hope they can pull this around as Holland needs a strong anti-immigration party.