How a pro-Putin TikTok star topped Romania’s presidential poll
The pro-Putin, far-right politician who surprisingly won the first round of Romania’s presidential elections on Sunday had recently gone viral on social media without pollsters registering his surge.
Călin Georgescu, 62, a former honorary member of the ultranationalist AUR party, had run as an independent and was credited with single-digit support for most of the campaign. But his campaign clips on TikTok depicting him as a horseback riding, martial arts fighting anti-establishment figure started trending in recent days.
“It’s a TikTok win,” said Romanian analyst and historian Ion M. Ionita. “You don’t need a party. You just need to go viral on social media, and he has gone viral for sure.”
Ionita noted that with mainstream parties struggling to stay credible after years of scandals and economic malaise, “voters are vulnerable to messages that have no connection with reality”.
Georgescu, who espouses religious, ultraconservative views that appeal to rural and young male voters alike, said that he spent “zero” money on his campaign but that he put his faith in God and managed to win 23 per cent of the votes.
