The recent remarks by Esteban González Pons, the deputy secretary, MEP of the Popular Party, and vice president of the European Parliament, describing Trump as “the alpha male of a pack of gorillas” or the “gravedigger of democracy,” only serve to confirm a longstanding hostility—a radical and irrational rejection better understood in light of the immense ideological closeness between the Popular Party and the Socialists. This alignment is reflected in their voting patterns in the European Parliament, where nine out of ten times, they vote the same way.
González Pons’ comments, which some may now seek to distance themselves from, align closely with those made not long ago by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Madrid branch of the Popular Party. Ayuso criticized VOX’s alliances, labeling Trump and Le Pen as politicians who “have harmed Spain’s interests.”
Other Popular Party leaders have demonstrated a similar aversion to the re-elected U.S. president. Cuca Gamarra, the parliamentary spokesperson and secretary general, along with member of Congress and deputy secretary Borja Sémper, have made statements almost indistinguishable from those of the Socialist Party (PSOE). Gamarra hasn’t hidden her admiration for the left-wing Kamala Harris, making extravagant declarations like, “In crises, a strong woman often emerges: Kamala has revolutionized politics.” Sémper, meanwhile, has used Trump’s name as an insult, criticizing Pedro Sánchez by saying, “He seems more like Trump than a Spanish politician«.
T̶R̶U̶M̶P̶SANCHISMO. pic.twitter.com/50JRoBFenp
— Partido Popular (@ppopular) September 11, 2023
PSOE and PP: United in Their Long-Standing Attacks on Trump
The Socialists and Popular Party’s shared attacks on the Republican leader date back to Trump’s first presidency. In 2018, José María Aznar called the then-U.S. president “an unpredictable populist.” Trump’s decisive re-election victory in November 2024 did little to change the former Spanish prime minister’s or the Popular Party’s stance.
Once again, FAES, a foundation linked to the Popular Party, declared that the Republican leader’s victory “was not good news,” while Aznar took the opportunity to say, “Something is wrong when someone who attempted a coup is elected president.”
The PSOE has echoed this sentiment. In November 2023, during a party event, Spain’s Prime Minister predicted, “There will be no Trump, Milei, Bolsonaro, Wilders, Feijóo, or Abascal.” Judging by election results in the United States, Argentina, or the Netherlands, however, the Socialist leader doesn’t appear to have much talent as a fortune teller.
By August 2023, with the U.S. presidential election campaign in full swing, the Socialists openly sided with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris—the same candidate who garnered the Popular Party’s admiration. In a message, the PSOE expressed “our strongest support for Kamala Harris in the November elections in the United States.”
After the Republican victory in 2024, Pedro Sánchez, following his formal congratulations to the winner, called Trump’s triumph “a dark day” and positioned himself as an international leader urging Europe to confront this “threat.”
The Socialist group in the European Parliament did not hold back in their insults and attacks on the legitimate and overwhelming winner of the U.S. elections. Its spokesperson, Iratxe García, claimed, “We know Trump’s project: authoritarianism, xenophobia, and lack of opportunities.” Evidently, respect for democratic norms is observed by the PSOE only when the left wins.
Following Trump’s inauguration, Sánchez harshly criticized the “technocratic elite,” calling on the European Union to “stand up to Trump and defend democracy,” using alarmist language like, “Europe must wake up,” and even including China in a new progressive alliance against the re-elected U.S. president.
The Decline of Resignation Politics
The consensus between the Socialists and the People’s Party against Donald Trump and his Administration once again demonstrates the similarities between political forces that defend and propose the same policies. Their numerous statements over time are an unmistakable indicator of their fear of any alternative to the prevailing globalism and woke ideology that have infiltrated all their policies over recent decades.
The fear of Trump, as with Milei, Orbán, and Meloni, is justified. These leaders foreshadow what a government led by Santiago Abascal might look like while demonstrating that there is an alternative to the resignation politics of the PSOE and the Popular Party. These parties attempt to establish that there is only one path: the socialism of the PSOE or the social democracy practiced by the Popular Party. The difference lies in degree—a greater or lesser intensity of globalist and woke policies, including high taxes, gender ideology, abortion promotion instead of life, illegal immigration, cancel culture, etc. Spaniards, they claim, “must accept that there is only one way.”
However, VOX’s allies, with remarkably similar policies, show that a different path is possible. Their measures promote the freedom, security, and prosperity of nations and their citizens. This is why VOX and its think tank, Disenso, have supported leaders like Trump, Milei, Orbán, and Meloni. Supporting them means defending VOX’s own ideas, proposals, and the Spaniards who long for a different path that revitalizes the nation and ends the constant interference and restriction of freedoms imposed by globalism and woke ideology.
