Their fortunes have waxed and waned, largely independent of Mr. Trump. In France, the right-wing leader Marine Le Pen suffered a crushing defeat by Emmanuel Macron in 2017, at a time when the American president was riding high. Now, with Mr. Macron beleaguered by the pandemic and deeply unpopular, polls suggest that Ms. Le Pen is poised to make a comeback in elections scheduled for 2022.
In Italy, where Mr. Trumps former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, once dreamed of opening an academy to train populist leaders in a converted monastery, the far-right parties built their political base by opposing migration from the south, a phenomenon that predated Mr. Trump and will outlast his presidency.
Trump gave these parties legitimacy, said Fabrizio Tonello, a political-science professor at the University of Padua. But he said the presidents unyielding manner and winner-take-all style never had much influence in Italys messy politics, where the premium is on deal-making and compromise.
In Germany, Mr. Trumps complicated legacy was evident in how the main rightist party, Alternative for Germany, dithered over how to treat Mr. Bidens victory. While some lawmakers parroted Mr. Trumps false claims about the vote counting, party leaders quietly congratulated Mr. Biden after the vote was called.
Some interpreted the more conciliatory tone as a recognition that Mr. Trumps defeat was also a defeat for the polarizing politics of the German party, which has seen its popularity hover around 10 percent in recent surveys.read more
Does Trump’s Defeat Signal the Start of Populism’s Decline?
