The Liberal Democratic Party of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had a resounding victory in her country’s elections over the past weekend. The conservative Takaichi, who called early elections quickly after becoming prime minister, shocked domestic and foreign observers by winning the largest majority in Japan’s history, over two-thirds of the lower house of Japan’s parliament. Takaichi’s victory came after, though not entirely due to, an endorsement by President Donald Trump. The prime minister thanked Trump for his endorsement as well as his congratulatory message after the victory.
Takaichi’s victory could well reshape Japanese politics and – thanks to her two-thirds majority –lead to constitutional changes, including the creation of a Japanese armed forces. But it is also yet more proof of an entirely different phenomenon: The growth of the pro-Trump populist-right across the world.
This is a phenomenon which, until Japan’s elections, had been stubbornly denied by “experts” around the globe. After President Trump’s tariffs went into effect last year, his endorsement became “the kiss of death” to European populist-right parties, according to one analysis. NPR used election results in Canada and Australia as an example of Trump’s policies hurting like-minded parties there. And in late December, Politico ran a piece highlighting how Trump’s endorsement divided Europe’s “far-right.”
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