How do populist and extreme right themes fit together then?
Populism gets its strength from a discourse that opposes people that are honest, hard working, keepers of legitimate democracy in favour of a minority, profiteering, elite that lacks legitimacy. Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Juan Peron in Argentina, Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, Bernard Tapie in France, Arnold Schwarzenegger in California could all be labelled populist. They are charismatic leaders who go to the aid of people to protect them against the elite. It is not necessary to be xenophobic, racist or anti-Semitic to be a populist. On the other hand, the extreme right is based on the idea of the existence of inequality between races, peoples, cultures and nations. And since there are inequalities, there are therefore hierarchies, according to the extreme right. Nationalism must protect those who are superior from those who are inferior. It is necessary to fight against internal enemies – the left wing, human rights activists, secularists, free masons etc. – and external enemies – refug
