COVID-19 deaths globally are not necessarily the poorest, the richest, or even the most densely populated. But they do have one thing in common: They are led by populist, mold-breaking leaders.Populism in politics means pushing policies that are popular with “the people,” not the elites and the experts.
The United States’ Donald Trump, Britain’s Boris Johnson and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, as well as India’s Narendra Modi and Mexico’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador, have surged to power in democratic countries, challenging the old order by promising social benefits to the masses and rejecting the establishment.