What you may not know about Geert Wilders

Both at home and abroad, Geert Wilders, the leader and sole member of the populist PVV party, which won a quarter of the vote in the Dutch elections of 22 November 2023, has been much debated. Some have claimed that his policy proposals have redefined the Dutch political landscape. That much is true. Others have said that his frank, outspoken views of Islam have forced traditional left-wing parties to reexamine their core tenets. That is true as well. Yet others have rightly pointed out his uncanny ability to dominate political debate in the media, whether the topic is the complex problems caused by immigration from North Africa and Eastern Europe, or the uncertain future of the European Union.

But among all the essays, opinion pieces and debates, many of his critics, not to mention his supporters, seem to have overlooked one very elementary aspect of Geert Wilders. This is an aspect that I feel is crucial if we are to complete the nuanced and multifaceted portrait that we have all made of him. And that is the fact that he’s a despicable asshole.

Can we truly make sense of this man if we disregard the elephant in the room: the persuasive evidence that Wilder is a big steaming turd, consisting of crude, rude, self-aggrandizing megalomania? Surprisingly, even his biographers, who have delved into almost every aspect of his life, from the mysteries surrounding his financial backers to his my-way-or-the-highway flavor of in-party politics, have failed to remark that Wilders is a bottom-feeding windbag, a demagogue, all talk and zero substance, always happy to infuriate without contributing to society in a meaningful way. He appeals to people's basest instincts, bringing out the worst in people, for no other reason that he himself is scum, a depraved, heartless rat of a man, with neither integrity nor principles.

Since no-one else had taken the effort to point out this basic fact about him, I felt the need to make this known, in case some less astute observers had failed to realize this. If, in sharing this insight, I have stated the obvious, I hereby offer my heartfelt apologies.