One of the nice things about political conventions is that interesting people show up on the periphery. One such is the Netherlands’ well known defender of free speech and safety from Islamic immigration invasion Geert Wilders, who met with sympatico Americans and was interviewed by a range of journalists.
Below, Wilders discusses policy with convention attendees.
The Dutch leader’s Twitter account showed him mixing with delegates and having a good time.
On the floor! pic.twitter.com/mIbkJhWxCy
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) July 22, 2016
Wilders attracts media interest because they consider him controversial for telling the obvious truth about Islam and excessive immigration. He has said many times that “Islam and freedom, Islam and liberty are incompatible.” And for that reason, the West should not admit them as immigrants.
Wilders and CNN’s Christiane Amanpour had a few words regarding citizen anger about out-of-touch political leaders:
GEERT WILDERS: What is happening in the United States today as a matter of fact is the same as what is happening in Europe today: the people no longer feel represented by their political leaders. There is an enormous gap both here in America and Europe where people feel that problem when it comes to their jobs, when it comes to crime, when it comes to immigration or terrorism are not addressed by the political leaders. [. . .]
CHRISTINE AMANCOUR: So what is your solution, what is Mrs. Le Pen’s solution, what is the Brexit solution?
WILDERS: Well, we have a solution. First, Brexit is important, and I would like to have a Nexit. So first get off the European Union; second, make sure that when it comes to the immigration from Islamic countries that there will be a full stop.
Geert Wilders spoke at the Gays for Trump event, featuring Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos as well as Islam-critical blogger Pamela Geller.
The existing video of his short speech is pretty terrible quality, but you can at least hear what Wilders is saying:
He warned the audience that Muslim immigration has been very bad for Europe:
“Let me tell you the situation in Europe today is worse than ever. Europe as a matter of fact is collapsing, is imploding, is exploding. We have terror attacks by jihadis almost every week. . .
It gets worse because thousands thousands of Arabs, thousands of Muslims from Europe went to Syria and to Iraq to fight for the jihad, and since ISIS is losing ground now in that region, there are hundreds of them are returning to Europe. They are returning and our stupid governments allow them to return to Europe. . .
The reason for all of this course is a policy decades-long of open borders — open borders and cultural relativism, the biggest disease in Europe today: politicians believing that Christianity. that Judaism, that humanism is worth as much as Islamism, which of course is not the case. The reason is that we have no real leaders in the Western world anymore.”
The WSJ’s report about Wilders was free of snark, unlike some.
Dutch Anti-Islam Politician Geert Wilders Praises Trump on Immigration, Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2016
CLEVELAND — Dutch Anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, in town to observe the Republican convention, praised Donald Trump and the GOP nominee’s skepticism of Muslim immigration to the U.S.
In an interview Wednesday night on the convention floor, Mr. Wilders applauded the GOP candidate’s embrace of what the Dutch member of parliament calls the “Patriotic Spring” sweeping Europe and the U.S., much of it centered on restricting immigration.
“Angry people have become the middle of the political spectrum,” said Mr. Wilders, who is viewed as one of Europe’s most prominent critics of Islam, which he has described as a fascist ideology
Mr. Wilders stood on the packed convention floor during Mike Pence’s speech accepting his nomination for vice president, his blond head towering above the American delegates surrounding him.
“It’s not about left and right, it’s about common people and their issues,” Mr. Wilders said, adding that politicians who ignore the voice of the common voter are “very stupid.”
Mr. Wilders, chairman of the anti-European Union Party for Freedom, which advocates for tight restrictions on immigration to Holland, could dominate parliament if elections were held today, according to recent polling.
Following Britain’s June”Brexit” vote to leave the EU, Mr. Wilders called for Holland to pull out of the union as well.
Although Mr. Wilders on Wednesday declined to publicly endorse any American candidate or otherwise meddle in U.S. politics, a Wall Street Journal reporter overheard him say to a delegate, “We cannot afford for Clinton to be president.”
Mr. Wilders is not the only European politician on hand at the GOP convention in Cleveland. Most notably, right-wing British politician Nigel Farage is in town. He said earlier this week that he couldn’t endorse some of Mr. Trump’s positions, including a call for banning entire groups of people from entering the U.S. country and his endorsement of rough treatment for protesters at his rallies.
Mr. Wilders attended the convention as a personal guest of Tennessee state Sen. Bill Ketron, who said he has known Mr. Wilders for years and who said his own position on immigration overlaps with the Dutch lawmaker.
“He speaks his mind and it’s considered hate speech,” Mr. Ketron said of his guest. “I agree with what he says.”
