J.D. Vance and the Nationalist International, British edition

J.D. Vance, Vice President, Opus Dei supporter and fan of theocratic “Catholic integralism”, has joined in with British far rightists to use the stabbing death of a young British man named Henry Nowak to stoke xenophobia. Because that’s what rightwing demagogues do.

A Sikh man named Vickrum Digwa has already been convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Scott Lucas discusses this case and American Trumpists’ influence on far-right, anti-democracy British politicians and activists. (1)

Jamie Grierson reports on the case and its aftermath. From her report, it appears clear that a Sikh man named Vickrum Digwa fatally stabbed Nowak without justification in December 2025. And, as just mentioned, Digwa was found guiltry in a court trial of the murder.

Police arriving on the scene immediately after the stabbing, in a tragic and grotesque turn, arrested Nowak and ignored his stab wounds and basically let him bleed out in their custody.

After Digwa was jailed, Nowak’s father, Mark Nowak, condemned the “inhumane and degrading” treatment of his son by police, but said: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We want his story to help make our streets safer for everyone.”

However, some high-profile rightwingers seized upon the case. Among them was Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of the social media platform X, who posted repeatedly about Nowak’s treatment, including claims that official police policy required officers to be “racist against whites”. Musk also reposted commentary on the case from far-right agitators including the UK’s Tommy Robinson.

The US vice-president, JD Vance, claimed on Friday that mass migration was to blame for Nowak’s murder. He said Nowak would be alive “if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the west and the people who love it”. [my emphasis] (2)

This is another instance of the current Nationalist International of far-right parties and groups at work. The report also goes into a longer history of mutual British and American efforts to influence each others’ politics, including in the days of the original America First movement.

Grierson reports, “The Independent Office for Police Conduct, a watchdog that deals with police complaints and investigates deaths after police contact, is investigating how the police officers involved handled Nowak’s arrest. It is expected to report back in three months.“ But that hasn’t stopped wretched characters like J.D. Vance and Nigel Farage, the creepy head of Britain’s Reform UK party. Le Monde reports:

British leader Keir Starmer said on Wednesday, June 3, there was "no justification" for violence after protesters clashed with police in a demonstration against officers' handling of the murder of a white student by a Sikh man. The prime minister branded as "unforgivable" calls by hard-right firebrand Nigel Farage for people to respond with "pure cold rage" to the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak – a murder that has become highly politicized in the UK. ...

Two people were arrested late on Tuesday during a protest led by far-right figures that turned violent, despite pleas from Nowak's father that his son's murder should not be used "to create further division, hatred or tension." Eleven police officers were injured during the demonstration in Southampton, which saw around 100 protesters pull apart garden fences, throw bricks, flares and chairs, and roll a flaming bin at police. Officers responded with a spray on demonstrators and hit them with riot shields. [my emphasis]

The British family singing group, the Marsh Family, who do brilliant satirical songs, has done one about Opus Dei Vance’s intervention in the politics of the case, “Bile and Lies”: (4)

A Greg Bovino footnote

Greg Bovino, until recently head of US Customs and Border Patrol (CPB), just attended a meeting of hard-right European nationalists and xenophobes. The idea of a “Nationalist International” is a bizarre concept. But there actually is such a thing in practice if not in name. (4)

Bovino in an interview before the conference called World War II German general Ernst Rommel one of his inspirations. Rommel is considered to have been a capable general, as shown by the number of British and American soldiers his forces killed.

Rommel was at least marginally involved in the 1944 assassination attempt against Hitler - which is now celebrated in Germany history as a patriotic and justified act of resistance - and Rommel committed suicide to avoid being arrested and executed after the attempt failed.

The intensive US bombing campaign against Iraq in 1998 was officially designated as "Operation Desert Fox", which was famously the nickname of Ernst Rommel. Whatever credit Rommel deserves for his part in the 1944 plot, naming an American military campaign after one of Hitler's most important generals was just bizarre.

Notes:

(1) J.D. Vance Exploits A Murder to Undermine UK Government. Scott Lucas Worldview YouTube channel 06/07/2026. <https://youtu.be/pigPXeFG04M?si=dI73FVzx7Bd3wYPI> (Accessed; 2026-07-06).

(2) Grierson, Jamie (2026): How Britain was rocked by Henry Nowak’s murder – and why the US intervened. Guardian 06/05/2026. (Accessed: 2026-07-06).

(3) UK PM slams violence outbreaks after footage shows dying stabbing victim handcuffed by police, Le Monde/AFP. <https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/06/03/outrage-grows-in-britain-after-footage-shows-dying-stabbing-victim-handcuffed-by-police_6754067_4.html> (Accessed; 2026-07-06).

(4) (3) "Bile and Lies" - Marsh Family parody of The Eagles "Lyin' Eyes" about JD Vance views on Henry Nowak. Marsh Family YouTube channel 06/06/2026. <https://youtu.be/2J95CTmZUUM?si=nMs49kxF0jQh0jEC> (Accessed; 2026-07-06).

(5) Far-Right Leaders, Including Ex-CBP Chief Greg Bovino, Convene in Portugal for "Remigration Summit." Democracy Now! YouTube channel 06/04/2026. <https://youtu.be/YJM7iLg1KFc?si=TU8EEUB1RtyjX8Up> (Accessed; 2026-07-06).

European Trumpists: Or, Nationalist International, then and now

The whole idea of a “nationalist international” is weird on its face. But there are lots of weird things about the radical right in all kinds of countries. But as Juliette Bretan reminds us, this was the case with the fascists movements and governments of the 1920s and later:

For all their authoritarianism, nationalism, and racism, the Nazis made considerable efforts to appeal to other countries for support, and kindle fascist thinking, during the interwar era. And there were times when it looked as if this strategy would work. Nazi Germany capitalized on existing dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Versailles, which was almost universally seen as unfair before the ink had even dried. The party promoted an anti-liberal and antidemocratic politics that in fact proved rather popular across national borders. They also flattered international supporters and foisted their ideas on the world at every opportunity. In the US alone, there were numerous fascist hubs. An organization called the Friends of New Germany was established in the 1930s by a German immigrant to the United States; it later became the German American Bund and received support from Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess. The American architect Philip Johnson reviewed Mein Kampf (1925) positively and reported from Germany on the “stirring spectacle” of the Nazi invasion of Poland. (1)

Doctrines matter to political movements. But political parties and political movements aren’t schools of philosophy. And their focus on national power means that they inevitably have to pick friends and enemies in particular situations. Mussolini and Italian fascism were a major model for Hitler. His failed “Beer Hall Putsch” in Munich in 1923 was an attempt to copy Mussolini’s March on Rome in 1922. Mussolini continued to be the senior political partner in the Germany-Italy relationship immediately after Hitler took power. He was also the model for Engelbert Dollfuss’ “Austrofascist“ regime, which Austrian and German Nazis attempted to stage a coup against that government. Mussolini backed Dollfuss against Hitler and threatened to send Italian troops to Austria to block a German takeover.

1935 became a turning point, though, when Italy found itself financially dependent on Germany once Italy began its colonial war against Abyssinia/Ethiopia. And the dependence grew in 1936 when Germany and Italy joined to actively support Franco’s rebels in the Spanish Civil War. Before the end of the Second World War, Mussolini was reduced to heading a rump state controlled by the Germans.

Hitler’s government could be ruthlessly pragmatic, most dramatically in the 1938 Nonaggression Pact with the Soviet Union, ideologically the Nazis’ worst enemy. (Obviously, the Soviets could also be ruthlessly pragmatic!)

Angel Munárriz reported on today’s de facto Trumpist International, a key player in which is the American Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) reporting on a CPAC conference in Buenos Aires in 2024:

CPAC is an example of that desire to weave together the alliances that [far-right anarcho-libertarian Argentine President Javier] Milei praises. But the clean-cut and smiling [Matt and Mercy Schlapp] are far from alone in this endeavor. “The international integration of the far-right through think tanks and allied foundations [intends] to drag the parties into their positions: neoliberal in economic terms and reactionary in social terms. This is a phenomenon that dates back to the 1970s in the United States but has spread to Latin America and Europe. It’s now experiencing a strong acceleration,” explains Anna López, a professor of political science at the University of Valencia.

One of the entities that’s stepping on that accelerator is the Political Network for Values (PNfV). Two days before the meeting in Argentina, the PNfV held a summit in Madrid, where European, American, and African far-right figures gathered. Many activists participated, as well as politicians from two of the three far-right parties represented in the European Parliament. There were also smaller delegations from the European People’s Party bloc. The most prominent political leader present was José Antonio Kast, the runner-up in the 2021 Chilean presidential elections. He was among a list of 50 speakers, some of whom are defenders of conversion therapy and opposed to abortion even in cases of rape. (2)

Notes:

(1) Bretan, Juliette (2026): It Really Can Happen Here. Los Angeles Review of Books 02/27/2026. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/transnational-fascism-united-states-nazis-hungary-yugoslavia-germany/> (Accessed: 2026-27-02).

2) Munárriz, Angel (2026): The far right is moving closer to the old dream of a ‘nationalist international’. El País International 12/22/2024. <https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-12-22/the-far-right-is-moving-closer-to-the-old-dream-of-a-nationalist-international.html> (Accessed: 2026-37-02).

Rogues gallery of the Nationalist International

Far-right parties that appeal to narrow nationalism and xenophobia seem on the face of it like the strangest bedfellows in politics. But there is a kind of Nationalist International of the kind of parties Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy refers to as the sort of politicians the Trump regime intends to promote in Europe.

And a number of those parties - including the Israeli Likud - and their leaders are endorsing the Hungarian authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán. The Austrian paper Der Standard reports on eleven of them, listed here with their countries and parties: (1)

• Santiago Abascal (Vox, Spain)
• Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (Ano, Czech Republic)
• Herbert Kickl (FPÖ, Austria)
• Marine Le Pen (National Rally/NR, France)
• Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (Fratelli d'Italia [Brothers of Italy], Italy)
• President Javier Milei (Libertzarian Party, Argentina)
• President Mateusz Morawiecki (PiS, Polen)
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu (Likud, Israel)
• Matteo Salvini (Lega, Italien)
• Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić (SNS, Serbia)
• Alice Weidel (Alliance for Germany (AfD), Germany)

At this point, these are the Trumpistas of Europe. The Guardian reports:

Rightwing leaders from around the world have come together to endorse Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, hinting at the symbolism that the country’s elections hold for global far-right movements even as the populist leader lags in the polls.

A campaign video published online by Orbán this week includes endorsements from nearly a dozen leaders including Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Salvini, France’s Marine Le Pen and Germany’s Alice Weidel.

“Europe needs Viktor Orbán,” Weidel, a co-leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), tells viewers.

Le Pen, the former leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, piles praise on the leader who once described Hungary as a “petri dish for illiberalism”. “Thanks to leaders like Viktor Orbán, the camp of patriots and defenders of nations and sovereign peoples is achieving ever greater success in Europe,” she says. [my emphasis]

This is an entertaining image from the November 2025 edition of the German comic book Captain Berlin. The hero has a definite Captain America vibe to him. The cover shows Captain Berlin being shocked by a campaign poster for a candidate named Ilse von Blitzen, who bears a distinct resemblance to Alice Weidel, the current leader of the German far-right AfD party. His reactions is, “Oh, no! Not her!”

Notes:

(1) Sommavilla, Fabian (2026): Kickl, Le Pen, Weidel, Meloni, Netanjahu und "Hollywood-Legende" mit Wahlkampfhilfe für Orbán. Der Standard 12.01.2026. <https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000303803/kickl-le-pen-weidel-meloni-netanjahu-und-hollywood-legende-mit-wahlkampfhilfe-fuer-orban> (Accessed: 2026-13-01).