Meloni on Vannacci’s AI video: “It was included without my knowledge. That’s not how I see political debate”

“I have read that some opposition figures are asking me to distance myself from a video created using artificial intelligence, circulated by another opposition party, in which I was featured without my knowledge. I do so without any hesitation.” So said Giorgia Meloni on social media, referring to the video published yesterday by General Roberto Vannacci, which depicts him as a Roman emperor. Flanking him are, indeed, the Prime Minister and the President of the Senate, whilst in the arena below, bound, are the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein; the leader of the M5S, Giuseppe Conte; the former Prime Minister, Romano Prodi; and the former President of the Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini: politicians whose execution Vannacci, spurred on by the crowd, calls for. 

In "Il Foglio", La Russa had described the video as “unacceptable”. Today, it is Meloni who has spoken out. “That video does not reflect who I am, nor my understanding of political debate. I have always believed that politics should be about ideas, consensus and the citizens’ vote, never about intimidation, hatred or the violent portrayal of one’s opponent,” writes the Prime Minister, before turning the discussion towards the centre-left. “I expect the same clarity from those who are making this appeal to me today. I expect the very same representatives of the left to find the courage to distance themselves when a councillor from the Democratic Party goes so far as to call for guns to be used against political opponents,” says Meloni, referring to the comments made on La Zanzara by Lorenzo Pacini, a PD councillor for Municipality 1 and centre-left mayoral candidate: "We fight the fascists at the ballot box and then, if necessary, with guns." 

“I expect,” Meloni continues, “the same firmness when influential institutional representatives of the left, in the face of events still under judicial investigation, choose to fuel a climate of confrontation that ends up undermining the legitimacy of the police and providing a pretext for those who turn public squares into scenes of violence.” The Prime Minister is referring to the clashes that took place in Bologna last night, following a demonstration calling for truth and justice for Abderrahim Fakir, a 42-year-old man of Moroccan origin who died whilst in police custody. “The condemnation of hate speech, of any incitement to violence and of any form of political intimidation cannot apply only when it serves the polemic of the moment. It must apply at all times. Without exceptions. Without double standards,” Meloni added. “I have always regarded violence, in whatever form it manifests itself, as a sign of weakness and insecurity. Those who are truly strong have no need to flaunt it. It is a conviction I will never change. For this reason,” she concluded, “I will continue to reject all forms of hatred and violence, to defend civil debate and to respect the work of those who serve the state, even when it means taking on the responsibility of putting myself on the line. I hope that everyone will have the same courage.”

The Prime Minister’s call was followed by a similar one from Azione leader Carlo Calenda. “Meloni’s response was clear and unequivocal in its condemnation of Vannacci’s vulgarity,” he wrote on X. “We now await Schlein to make an equally clear statement on Bologna.”