The Rise of Populism during the Pandemic: The Case of AUR in Romania

Abstract The article examines the case of AUR a populist political party, that entered the political electoral arena during the COVID pandemic. The party’s populist messages on social media activated an electorate that is receptive to the appeal of a nationalist anti-establishment party. Combining a description of the discourse, strategies, leadership and context coupled with an investigation of a nationally representative survey, the paper argues that AUR has succeeded to become an established party by mobilization of the national and transnational electorate through social media. We further show that AUR appeals to a predominantely male, young and anti vaccination electorate in a similar fashion to other voters of populist parties in Europe indicating that the Romanian political system witnesses the emergence of a new left-right gendered political cleavage.