Ranucci at the Avs party: amongst the vegan burgers, he gets a taste of the politics he claims not to want

“I’m not involved in politics and I’m not standing for election, because I cause more of a stir when I’m presenting *Report*.” But then, once again, after a while, as happened the other evening in Garbatella: “Have you seen the polls?” He hints, backtracks, then presses on. The ancient ritual dictates that the bishop-elect should refuse the mitre, and refuse it aloud, declaring himself unworthy, unprepared, too insignificant for the position being laid out before him. And so here he is, the Honourable Sigfrido, dark shirt unbuttoned right down to the boldest button, blue jeans, half presenter and half orator, a rebellious showman (“chatting with girls online? It’s all rubbish”), the reluctant candidate, determined not to accept what no one has yet offered him. He arrives at the AVS party in Rome, amidst children drinking GazaCola and ladies fanning themselves under a dazzling September sky, welcomed by Angelo Bonelli, the leader of the Greens – as an old comrade confides: “Angelo would really like to put him forward as a candidate, but Fratoianni is against it.”

AVS activists ask him for autographs; a lady gives him a watermelon-shaped pin, the ProPal symbol. Reporters also approach him – they are the only group that has actually turned out in force this evening – and ask him what everyone has come to hear. And he replies "no" in that very particular way one learns as a child, which consists of saying no whilst keeping the door open with one’s foot, so that the ‘no’ to politics stretches out, rounds off, takes a breath, allows for a subordinate clause, and within that clause reappears a figure from the SWG poll on Report revealed by Enrico Mentana on Monday evening, which Ranucci transforms into an indicator of his own popularity as head of government. “According to SWG, 63 per cent of Italians consider me credible enough to lead the country.” He had already said this on Tuesday, adding: “But Mentana doesn’t mention that.” And Mentana hadn’t mentioned it, in fact, because that figure does not exist. 

In the SWG poll, that 63 per cent referred to the quality of Report’s investigations, which is a compliment to the programme, not to the presenter, and certainly not to the future prime minister. Ranucci adds the rest, with the deft touch of an investigative journalist who knows where to look. Then the Honourable Sigfrido takes to the stage, and there we gauge the distance Report has travelled to reach AVS. Because until yesterday, the adversary had a familiar name and an office on the third floor: Paolo Corsini, director of Rai’s Approfondimento, the man who stripped him of his presenting role, and the disputes were those of any company with too many corridors. Now the picture has broadened with a generosity that takes your breath away, stretching from Gaza to genocide, from American colonisation to the tech-oligarchs of Silicon Valley, whilst Freemasonry intertwines with Elon Musk, Daniele Capezzone and Google, in a single grand scheme that the audience follows – whilst keeping an eye on the vegan burger stall – with the devotion of those who know that, in the end, it all comes full circle. The map, the interconnected threads, US Vice-President Vance and judicial reform in Italy.

Only the scale has changed, as a man who spent two months battling a network director now finds himself headlining alongside Netanyahu and Bezos – a promotion that is perhaps unprecedented in the history of public television. These are the sort of speeches that, once tasted, are perhaps impossible to give up, and indeed Ranucci delivers them almost with the appetite of someone who has discovered a new cuisine amongst the steaming pots at Avs’s party. All that remains of journalism is the trappings. The rest already feels like an election tour. So he isn’t standing for election, and he didn’t stand in Lamezia Terme, Seriate, Bassano del Grappa, Erbusco, Casalfiumanese, Lecce or Trieste, and he will continue not to stand this autumn in Bologna, Ferrara, Salerno or Mestre. In Italy, the candidate lists close in a week’s time. A well-executed refusal, on the other hand, can last an entire theatre season, and this one already has dates fixed right through to winter. It is worth noting that the only individual to have recognised this, in a nation often likened to a country of the blind, was Valter Lavitola, who commissioned a popularity poll well in advance and at his own expense, much as one might reserve the best table for a dinner scheduled for 2027. He was regarded as a wheeler-dealer in shelled clams. In fact, he was a talent scout.