Truth-out.org published an interview with professor Noam Chomsky earlier this week, an interview that covered an array of topics that had to do with Donald Trump and American politics. One question that C.J. Polychroniou asked the professor was "Do you see any resemblance between Brexit and Donald Trump's victory?", one that Chomsky answered by drawing "definite similarities to Brexit, and also to the rise of the ultranationalist far-right parties in Europe." As Chomsky sees it Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen, and Viktor Orban are political individuals in Europe that regard Trump "as one of their own."

Who are Farage, Le Pen, and Orban?

Nigel Farage is a figure active in the British political scene.

Farage, who is an interim head of the UK's Independent Party, is known for being pro-Brexit and he met with Trump recently in New York. By virtue of his own tweets, Farage has marketed himself as a man that can improve American/British relations going forward. On November 14th he tweeted from his verified account: "The British government needs to mend fences to improve US-UK relations - I can help." With 533K followers, he has about 3.5% of the followers that Trump has, however he's a figure that could gain more popularity as a British reflection of Trump. That said, the next British election isn't until May of 2020.

Marine Le Pen is a French politician known for relaxing racist, nazi-like, and antisemitic attitudes in her political party, one known as the National Front party.

She was spotlighted in a recent CNN article by Melissa Bell, Saskya Vandoorne, and Bryony Jones (November 15th). She is quoted in that article as stating "Donald Trump has made possible what was presented as completely impossible. So it's a sign of hope for those who cannot bear wild globalization."

Unlike Britain, France's next election is coming up soon (April/May 2017).

I think we all have a bad taste in our mouths when it comes to political polling in North America after the Trump/Clinton pollsters missed everything. But, take it or leave it, Le Pen is the betting favorite to win the French presidency with betway sportsbook while most other ones make Alain Juppe (centre right) the favorite.

Viktor Orban is a lesser figure in European politics, because he's a part of a less-powerful country. He is the currently the Prime Minister of Hungary (right wing) with elections in that country about a year and half away (spring 2018). Orban celebrated Trump's victory according to an article with The Independent: "Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán celebrates Donald Trump victory as end of ‘liberal non-democracy’" (November 12th headline/Lucy Pasha-Robinson).

Chomsky sees Europe's fascist WWII days

As Chomsky sees it, the rise of "ultranationalist far-right parties in Europe" and the rise of Trump are "quite frightening" developments. "A look at the polls," Chomsky said, "...cannot fail to evoke unpleasant memories for those familiar with the 1930s, even more so for those who watched directly, as I did as a child. I can still recall listening to Hitler's speeches, not understanding the words, though the tone and audience reaction were chilling enough."
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