Mussolini’s Granddaughter Leaves Italy’s Conservative Party Due To Its Extreme Right-Wing Views

On Thursday, wartime dictator Benito Mussolini’s granddaughter and Rome councilor Rachele Mussolini announced that she was leaving Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party due to its far-right policies.

She told ANSA News agency, “It is time to turn the page and join a party that I feel is closer to my moderate and centrist sensibilities.”

The Italian Brothers of Italy’s origins go back to the Italian Social Movement, which was an heir to Mussolini’s fascists following World War II. 

Since then, Meloni took office in 2022 and has gone about trying to present the Brothers of Italy party as a mainstream conservative group. The party has harsh views on immigration rights, abortion, same-sex parenting, surrogacy and many more social issues. 

Mussolini attributed her departure from the party to “a different sensitivity on rights” and said she was instead moving to the most centrist group, Forza Italia, at City Hall. Forza Italia is also part of Meloni’s ruling coalition and presents itself as a party dedicated to defending Christian values, but historically, it has a more liberal front on civil issues.

In August, Rachele argued with Meloni about the gender of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who fought against Italian boxer Angela Carini in the Olympics.

After Carini and Khelif’s face-off – Khelif would eventually go on to win gold – Meloni claimed that it had not been a fair match between the two women, as Khelif had failed a gender eligibility test the previous year at the World Championships. 

Mussolini retorted to Meloni, “Until proven otherwise, Imane Khelif is a woman, and she has suffered an unworthy witch hunt.”

Rachele won the most votes of any candidate at the last council elections in Rome in 2021.