MP Thierry Baudet had already stirred up controversy by showing support for Vladimir Putin, describing him as a "friendly head of state" (with rumors of secret financial ties), by opposing an EU-Ukraine association agreement in 2016 and by refusing to condemn anti-Semitic remarks from one of his relatives. But now, the Dutch leader of the far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD) party has taken it a step further.
On Monday, October 17, Mr. Baudet stated in an interview with the podcast "Geopolitics & Empire" that he believed that the world is "being governed by evil reptiles," a popular conspiracy theory created by British author David Icke.
Mr. Icke is scheduled to give a speech in Amsterdam on November 6, at a rally planned by the Together for the Netherlands coalition, which brings together far-right activists, anti-vaccine groups and Yellow Vests. They intend to protest against the role of the European Union in the war in Ukraine and its support for authorities in Kyiv.
The idea that reptiles are taking on human form to impose their laws, repeated by the leader of a party that surprisingly won the Dutch senatorial elections in March 2019, undoubtedly impacted the vote that took place the next day in the Dutch parliament. On Tuesday, October 18, a large majority of the 150 members of the Second Chamber voted to ban Mr. Baudet from speaking for eight days. It is an extremely rare decision in the country’s parliamentary history. It was officially motivated by the fact that the elected official had also refused to declare his income and his other functions – notably as a publisher.
A complaint filed by a citizen was brought before the commission responsible for monitoring the integrity of members of the House of Representatives, as permitted by law. Bert Van den Braak, a professor of parliamentary history at Maastricht University, demanded transparency on all of Mr. Baudet’s income. Mr. Baudet considered this "an attack on democracy." The members of his group as well as members of the Party for Freedom, led by his far-right rival Geert Wilders, left the room in protest.
'Metaphor'
Mr. Baudet’s refusal to abide by the rules of Parliament was less surprising than his comments about "reptiles" ruling the world. Especially because Mr. Icke, the man who started this theory, is also a Holocaust denier. Drawing upon the anti-Semitic myth that Jews drink the blood of children, he claimed that the current reptiles would attack blond children to drain them of their blood.
Faced with the uproar triggered by his comments, Mr. Baudet attempted to backtrack by saying that he was using a "metaphor" to show political leaders’ "lack of feelings." While he added that he did not "know much" about the occult, he still stated that there were "many signs" that made it possible to conclude that there were no coincidences in the world.
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