In this essay, I examine the rise to power of Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), the populist far right Italian party led by Giorgia Meloni, in the 2022 election. I first situate FdI’s victory in the complex context of the Italian experience of the pandemic—exploring the erosion of the democratic sentiment in Italy after COVID-19 and the mutual influences of crises and the shaky anti-establishment and anti-intellectual epistemologies of populisms. I then proceed to examine Meloni’s recurring rhetorical strategy to deal with FdI’s problematic relationship to fascist heritage during the electoral campaign. Specifically, I analyse Meloni’s rhetorical maneuvers as instances of cerchiobottismo. Cerchiobottismo is an Italian term that explains the practice of strategic ambiguity typical of seasoned politicians that can juggle two sides, telling both sides that they are partially wrong, without compromising too much of the rhetor’s own position. In the second part of this essay, I unpack Meloni’s cerchiobottista rhetorics in a set of three significant examples in relation to the 2022s election and the controversies over fascism to illustrate how Meloni rejected the repeated public accusations of fascist nostalgia in her party, while boosting FdI’s electoral appeal among a moderate electorate and also reassuring international stakeholders.

在这篇文章中，我考察了Fratelli d'Italia (FdI)的崛起，这是由 Giorgia Meloni 领导的意大利极右翼民粹主义政党，在 2022 年大选中的崛起。我首先将FdI的胜利置于意大利经历大流行病的复杂背景下——探索 COVID-19 之后意大利民主情绪的侵蚀以及危机的相互影响和摇摇欲坠的反建制和反知识认识论民粹主义。然后，我继续研究 Meloni在竞选期间反复出现的修辞策略，以处理FdI与法西斯传统的问题关系。具体来说，我将 Meloni 的修辞手法分析为cerchiobottismo 的实例。切尔基博提斯莫是一个意大利语术语，解释了经验丰富的政治家典型的战略模棱两可的做法，他们可以兼顾双方，告诉双方他们部分错误，而不会在修辞者自己的立场上妥协太多。在这篇文章的第二部分，我将 Meloni 的cerchiobottista 言论分解为一组与 2022 年大选和法西斯主义争议有关的三个重要例子，以说明 Meloni 如何拒绝公开指责她的党内法西斯主义怀旧，同时提振FdI在温和派选民中的选举吸引力，也让国际利益相关者放心。