In this episode of Try to Control Your Shock and Amazement…

As RedState reported on Sunday, a coalition of right-wing parties was swept into power in Italy, with Giorgia Meloni set to become the nation’s first female prime minister. Rather than focus on that significant fact, much of the “mainstream” U.S. media compared her and her party to fascists (sound familiar?), with CNN predictably running a chyron likening Meloni to Benito Mussolini.

Before we get to CNN, let’s first check in with a few other legacy media stalwarts.

ABC News barely noted Meloni’s status as Italy’s first female prime minister, focusing primarily on her and her party’s “archconservative” views of the infamous Republican Fascist Party, as transcribed by Fox News:

The archconservative of Italian politics, Meloni entered politics at age 15 in 1992, joining the neo-fascist Social Movement, a group with pronounced sympathy for Benito Mussolini, the country’s dictator from 1925 to 1945.

Party imagery evokes Italy’s fascist past, but Meloni has rejected the associations, framing her proposed conservative coalition as a nationalist project that would recover power from Brussels,

Politico weighed in, noted Fox, as one might expect, warning that Meloni should be taken seriously and not dismissed as a “carnival sideshow,” or a “mere Italian Trump.” Hmm. Trump, fascism… Where have we heard that before? Wait— never mind. (See: Lyin’ Biden.)

Her combination of nationalist identity politics and transatlantic solidarity makes her a hit with American conservatives and makes her harder to isolate or dismiss than a mere Italian Trump.

Just prior to Sunday’s election, former CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric crawled out of her snippy little Yahoo hole (or wherever) to take a “historical” shot at Meloni, as well.

Weeks before the 100th anniversary of Mussolini’s rise to power, #Italy is on the verge of electing another leader from the far right. Here’s what you need to know about the race and the woman who’s poised to lead the nation.

Boring, Katie.

Weeks before the 100th anniversary of Mussolini’s rise to power, #Italy is on the verge of electing another leader from the far right. Here’s what you need to know about the race and the woman who’s poised to lead the nation.
https://t.co/P7ZuXbmA2V #kcm

— Katie Couric (@katiecouric) September 26, 2022

Don’t forget The New York Times and its motto, “All the News That’s Fit to Spin”:

Italy turned a page of European history on Sunday by electing a hard-right coalition led by Giorgia Meloni. Meloni is set to become the country's first far-right leader since Mussolini and the first female prime minister. https://t.co/6XPKpT1Ln0 pic.twitter.com/YQyakWV8Vd

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 26, 2022

Examples abound, and as expected, the best came from the embattled network we’ve come to respect laugh at, or ignore altogether, CNN: Giorgia Meloni Claims Victory to Become Italy’s most Far-Right Prime Minister Since Mussolini.

Classic CNN.

Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni has claimed victory in a general election that seems set to install her as Italy’s first female prime minister, leading the most far-right government since the fascist era of Benito Mussolini.

Addressing the media and supporters in the early hours of Monday morning, Meloni said it was “a night of pride for many and a night of redemption.”

“It’s a victory I want to dedicate to everyone who is no longer with us and wanted this night,” she said. “Starting tomorrow we have to show our value … Italians chose us, and we will not betray it, as we never have,” she said.

Preliminary results put an alliance of far-right parties, led by Meloni’s ultraconservative Brothers of Italy party, on track to win at least 44% of the vote, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.

The network of Jake Tapper and Don Lemon, even minus the “dearly departed” Chris Cuomo, Mr. Potato Head Brian Stelter, and White House correspondent John Harwood didn’t disappoint.

“A sad evening for the country.”

CNN further pointed out that the new female prime minister isn’t interested in advancing women’s rights. In left-wing groupspeak, “women’s rights” include on-demand abortion until birth and biological males competing against females in women’s sports, of course.

The incoming prime minister – the sixth in just eight years – will be tasked with tackling a number of challenges, with soaring energy costs and economic uncertainty among the country’s most pressing.

Debora Serracchiani of the Democratic Party conceded defeat early Monday morning, calling the results a “sad evening for the country.”

[W]hile Meloni is slated to make history as Italy’s first female prime minister, her politics do not mean that she is necessarily interested in advancing women’s rights.

Emiliana De Blasio, adviser for diversity and inclusion at LUISS University in Rome, told CNN Meloni is “not raising up at all questions on women’s rights and empowerment in general.”

In a social media post early Monday, Meloni dedicated her projected win to “all the militants, managers, supporters and every single person who – in these years – has contributed to the realization of our dream, offering soul and heart spontaneously and selflessly.”

Meloni added: “We won’t betray your trust. We are ready to lift Italy up.”

Correction, Ms. Meloni. By “ready to lift Italy up,” according to America’s left-wing media, you’re going to adopt fascistic policies and plunge Italy back to the war years of Il Duce.

The Bottom Line

As in the case of Joe Biden referring to Donald Trump and “Maga Republicans” as “semi-fascists” who “pose a threat to the rule of law,” while others define the term “MAGA” as a “form of covert racism and white supremacy,” this is what they’re reduced to.

After nearly two years of Biden’s raging dumpster fire of a presidency, which continues to wreak havoc on everyday Americans, what else can they do other than desperately attempt to deflect from the damage they’ve done?

Not dissimilar to Benito Mussolini and his Il Popolo d’Italia, I might add.