*Originally published in 2024 and preserved as part of our archive project.Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support our work.

Far-right political leaders increasingly rely on conspiracy theories as the backbone of their campaigns, not just to rally their supporters but to create a captivating spectacle of misinformation, exploiting fears surrounding religion, LGBTQ rights, and public health to polarise societies and amplify their agendas. Călin Georgescu has emerged as a new case study of how these strategies are localised yet still echoing global far-right rhetoric. Georgescu’s rhetoric taps into deeply rooted fears about national identity and cultural purity, often framing external forces as existential threats to Romania. While Trump evokes Christian nationalism to rally American evangelicals, Georgescu casts himself as the protector of Romania’s Christian heritage. Similarly, Georgescu’s anti-LGBTQ and anti-vaccine narratives mirror Bolsonaro’s and Orbán’s tactics, illustrating how far-right conspiracies are shared, rebranded, and weaponised across borders, unified by the same principles. However, in the face of such theatrics, memes are emerging as powerful tools of resistance, exposing the absurdity of these claims and undermining their polarising intent.

For Georgescu, the perceived attack on Christianity is central to his far-right agenda. He frequently warns that Romania’s Christian identity is under threat from “globalist elites” and “secular forces” determined to eradicate traditional values. In one speech, he claimed that Romania’s sovereignty was being eroded by the European Union’s promotion of multiculturalism, which he framed as incompatible with the country’s Christian roots. This rhetoric closely mirrors Viktor Orbán’s concept of “Christian democracy,” which he uses to justify anti-immigrant policies and resistance to EU liberalism. Orbán has famously declared, “We [Hungarians] are not a mixed race … and we do not want to become a mixed race,” a sentiment that aligns with Georgescu’s veiled critiques of immigration and foreign influence.

Georgescu’s rhetoric also draws comparisons to Donald Trump’s alignment with Christian nationalism. Trump famously championed the defence of “Merry Christmas” as a cultural rallying cry, portraying secularism and immigration as existential threats to American Christian values. Like Trump, Georgescu frames himself as a defender of tradition against an encroaching, godless globalism. Both leaders invoke the so-called “Great Replacement” theory, a conspiracy........

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