The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella called Ignazio La Russa after Michele Riondino’s post. The actor and director, to celebrate Liberation Day on April 25th, posted on Facebook, turning it upside down and therefore with the protagonists upside down, an old photo portraying the current president of the Senate next to a photo of Benito Mussolini.
“I take the liberty of paying homage to President Mattarella, who I consider a straight, just person, with ideas that do not always coincide with mine but whom I esteem and respect”, said La Russa from the stage of the Fratelli d’Italia event in Pescara, explaining that he received a call from the head of state who expressed solidarity with him for the post. “I told him ‘I’m not worried. President, if these were the problems…'” La Russa said.
“The positive values of the Resistance and anti-fascism are in the first part of the Constitution. Even if the word anti-fascist is not there. If “by the word anti-fascist” we mean a firm no to dictatorship and a firm no to nostalgia, certainly you can define me as anti-fascist. Then there is the militant anti-fascism of the 70s which is something else”, he added.
On Scurati
La Russa – that paid homage to Enrico Berlinguer (“Whoever is called Berlinguer has courage from birth”, he said, thanking the journalist Bianca Berlinguer present at the event, adding: “Surnames are not erased, in you we also honor the memory of your father”), he also spoke on the Scurati case and the monologue that was not broadcast: “I would have sent it on air but without giving him a cent, nothing more than 1800 euros. Otherwise I would have sent it but with the subtitle: ‘this contribution exists, but with an invoice'”. “I don’t want to talk about Scurati, he already makes a lot of money writing about Mussolini – he added – He is an enlightened man, now I expect his trilogy on Stalin…”. Berlinguer who was interviewing him immediately joked: “Now you want a level playing field also on the trilogies…”.
“We think that little by little the hope is gaining ground that there are no a priori closed doors for those who are not part of a certain way of thinking. Nobody wants to throw anyone out, not even Scurati…”, he began.
On Vannacci
La Russa also spoke about Roberto Vannacci: “One thing I really don’t like is this: how can a general challenge his Defense Minister? I find it more serious than everything else. I don’t allow myself to express opinions on his candidacy , I didn’t do it with Salis, let alone…”. “I haven’t read her book, I’ve only read Scurati: the first one, I threw away the other two”. Vannacci “we must neither praise nor demonize him, I only criticized him for the lack of hierarchical sense towards his minister”, he underlined.
“He doesn’t have a handicapped child otherwise he would have understood he had said something foolish, I hope he never has handicapped children or relatives. What do I like about his book? I haven’t read it”, La Russa then added.
