00:03You're watching Euronews' fact-checking show The Cube.
00:06Last week's clash between Georgia Meloni and Donald Trump at the J7 made headlines
00:11as the two leaders' apparent friendship seemed to suffer a serious blow.
00:15The US president claimed that the Italian prime minister had asked over and over
00:19for a photo adding that she was doing poorly with her popularity in Italy.
00:24Meloni soon headed back suggesting Trump should focus on his own approval ratings instead
00:29and that her popularity did not depend on her relationship with him.
00:32But what do the latest figures show?
00:34Georgia Meloni is currently Italy's most powerful politician,
00:38but the poll suggests a more complicated picture.
00:40Recent surveys show her Brothers of Italy party remains the country's most popular political force,
00:46but her personal favorability is weaker.
00:48A YouGov poll conducted in April showed that 34% of Italians have a favorable view of her,
00:53with 57% having an unfavorable view.
00:56An Ipso survey put this at 44% approval rating in February this year.
01:00This is a different picture from 2023 when Pew Research found that 57% of Italians viewed
01:06Meloni favorably less than a year after she took office.
01:10Meloni's political support has therefore not suddenly collapsed,
01:13but reports that she is overwhelmingly popular are also misleading.
01:17The row between Meloni and Trump triggered a strong reaction on social media.
01:21Several users have shared this video of Meloni being hugged by supporters and cheered by a crowd.
01:28Some described it as showing her being welcomed back to Italy with lots and lots of praise from Italians,
01:34with many supposedly applauding her for standing up to Trump.
01:37The footage is genuine, but it's being shared without its full context.
01:40It was posted on Meloni's ex-account after she attended the gathering of the third alpine group of the Trivenator
01:46region,
01:47an annual reunion of Alpini veterans and volunteers from north-eastern Italy.
Comentarios