Politician called ‘Benito’ who collects Mussolini memorabilia elected parliament speaker

Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa is the new President of the Italian Senate.

He’s one of the leader of Fratelli d’Italia, Giorgia Meloni’s party.

Welcome in his house full of Mussolini memorabilia and collectibles.

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— David Carretta (@davcarretta) October 13, 2022

Giorgia Meloni, who is set to become Italy’s new Prime Minister, has tried to distance her party from its well-documented neofascist roots, and just last month said the party had “handed fascism to history decades ago.” 

In a video that went viral last month, La Russa’s younger brother, Romano La Russa, attended a funeral at which he performed a Nazi-looking straight-armed salute and, despite calls for Brothers of Italy to suspend him, has maintained his innocence and retained his seat in Lombardy Regional Council. 

On Thursday, a Holocaust survivor, and the only member of her family to survive Auschwitz concentration camp, opened the Italian parliament and warned against fascism ahead of the centenary of the March on Rome that brought Mussolini to power.