Yellow vests, lateral thinkers, Proud Boys – populist movements have one thing in common: their supporters are alone.
In a recent documentary, former French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe recalls the rise of the protest movement gilets jaunes in winter 2018. The men and women who can be recognized by their yellow safety vests and who occupy the roundabouts in France every Saturday were concerned with abolishing the eco-tax on petrol, but then with much more. Philippe recalls that, very soon after the first actions, he invited the movement’s spokesmen to his official residence in Paris to negotiate. But on the morning of the appointment they canceled: They had received death threats from within their own ranks.