Italy's new far-right leader Giorgia Meloni and her ties to American politics

LONDON — Giorgia Meloni, the head of Italy's far-right nationalist political group, declared victory on Tuesday after her coalition, which includes her party the Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), won a clear majority.

The center-right coalition is made up of three parties: Fratelli d'Italia; the far-right League, led by Matteo Salvini; and Forza Italia, headed by Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister who was convicted of tax fraud and named in a 2011 U.S. State Department human-trafficking report.

Italy is on course to create the most ring-wing government since World War II, with the final results of the election expected by Monday. Meloni, set to become Italy’s first female prime minister, vowed that her party would “govern for everyone.”

"Italians have sent a clear message in favor of a right-wing government led by Brothers of Italy," Meloni told reporters.

Following her triumph, several Republicans praised her win. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, hailed the election results as "spectacular," while Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., tweeted that he looked "forward to working with her" to "advance our shared interests." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., also lauded Meloni and congratulated her on her victory, and Fox News host Tucker Carlson said her victory was a "revolution."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken failed to send a celebratory message to Italy's new leader but rather said that the U.S. was "eager to work with Italy's government on our shared goals," which he said included "respecting human rights."

Meloni has had long-standing ties with key members of U.S. politics. Since 2018, Steve Bannon, former White House adviser under President Donald Trump, has supported Meloni in her rise to political stardom. Four years ago, Fratelli d'Italia held only 4% of the vote in Italy — far lower than the 41% to 45% won in this past election.

Attending one of Bannon's right-wing rallies in Europe in 2018, Meloni told the Daily Beast at the time that she saw Bannon as an "ally," adding that, "We share ideals. We need to hear what he says."

Benjamin Harnwell, the international editor for Bannon's "War Room" podcast, previously told Yahoo News that he remembers Bannon calling Meloni "a rock star" after their first meeting. "This woman is going to transform Italy," Harnwell recalls Bannon saying at the time.

More recently in an interview with British newspaper the Times, Bannon compared Meloni to Britain's first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was known for breaking unions and privatizing state-owned enterprises. "Like Thatcher, she will face opposition — but like Thatcher, she will win. And like Thatcher, history will prove her right," Bannon said.

And it's not just with Bannon that Meloni's message resonates. Earlier this year, she delivered a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference. She told the crowd that "everything" conservatives had stood for was under attack and the only way to be a rebel was to "preserve what we are" and to be "conservative."

Lawrence Rosenthal, chair of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies at the University of California, told Al Jazeera that American conservatives are celebrating Meloni's victory because "it's an occasion to celebrate the 'triumph of our side' — from their point of view — internationally."

According to Cas Mudde, an international affairs professor at the University of Georgia, Meloni has “invested a lot of effort into creating connections and respectability within the U.S.-dominated ‘national conservatism’ and Christian fundamentalist networks.”