Ziello (Fn): “The new Report will have a single target: Vannacci. That’s what our sources are telling us.”

Rome. Futuro Nazionale had not yet commented on the bombshell of the summer. Not a single word about the novel by Ranucci, Lavitola, mass murderers and interns. They had remained silent at FN, at least until yesterday, that is, until a thought finally took hold. Like an epiphany.

Now that they have sidelined Ranucci—so say the Futurists—the new Report will have a new target. Which one? “Us”, is the answer. “No longer Ignazio La Russa, but General Vannacci.” The new presenter, Giulia Presutti, will in fact act as a watchdog for the fledgling party – installed by the government and focused solely on the “dirty dozen”. Out goes Ranucci, in comes Presutti?

“Now we’re the only ones in their sights,” Edoardo Ziello, a Vannacciano MP and former member of the Lega, tells Il Foglio, adding: “That’s what well-informed sources are telling us.” What are they telling you? “That we’ll be at the centre of their investigations. But we’re happy to be.”

Are you suggesting that Report will merely shift its target? “I’m saying that nothing will change because, by now, the programme’s format – when it comes to politics – is all about creating horror films based exclusively on the right, which, rather than instilling fear, simply make people laugh. Not least because the Report journalists always interview runaways. And never party leaders...”

Honourable Member, you speak of ‘well-informed sources’ and, as you know, the word ‘source’ these days would suggest apotropaic gestures… That said, how will you deal with these alleged (or almost certain) investigations? ‘With a smile’. Really? Without any hard feelings? ‘With a smile because we have nothing to fear. What’s more, we’ll have further proof that we’re a political force that truly strikes fear into the establishment. We’re already seeing this in the daily censorship we’ve been subjected to for months...’. What are you referring to? ‘The censorship we face in the muddled reports on Rai news programmes. And we’ll remember that’.

Speaking of Rai, the organisation has sacked Ranucci. If you’d been in government, what would you have done? “I couldn’t care less about Ranucci, or about whoever’s taking over from him. They hate us because we’re an untameable right-wing group that doesn’t respond to the shepherd’s whistle.”

But would you have avoided Ranucci’s sacking or not? “Personally, I would have brought the curtain down on it quickly.” So you wouldn’t have left him there either... “No. Report has now become a haven for the most resentful progressive voters, and a public service programme cannot be partisan.”

We have long wondered whether, with the man’s removal and the mutiny amongst his men, there is a risk of turning a journalist into a martyr. What do you think? “I don’t see where the scandal lies. The centre-right has kept Report afloat – or what remains of it – thereby proving itself useful to the left.” And this is a well-established view within Fn… ““By ousting Ranucci, the right-wing government has handed him a strategic platform for his likely candidacy in the next general election.” So they ousted him – just as you would have done, but at the wrong time? “Once again, the strategists got the timing and the approach wrong. But then again, what can one expect from statesmen who advise Meloni not to form an alliance with Vannacci?”