Niko Hatakka Comments on US Capitol Invasion for Finland’s Yle Radio Station

Josh Allen on 11th January 2021

US Capitol Building at dusk. The dome of the building is illuminated in the centre of the image. In the foreground protestors in winter clothing many waving Trump flags, and flags representing the early flag of the United States c. 1785 are flying. A large crowd is assembled stretching up to building which is barricaded with crowd control barriers. A group can be seen on the building's terrace, it's not clear if these are soldiers/police or protestors

Niko Hatakka – the Populism in Action Project’s Finland focused Research Fellow -was invited onto the national Yle radio station to take part in a discussion about the riotous invasion of the US Capitol Building in Washington DC by supporters of the USA’s outgoing President Donald Trump.

The programme sought to explore “What role does right-wing populism play in Washington chaos?” and was described by Yle in the following terms

The whole world has been following a completely extraordinary intrusion into the U.S. Congress Building and its aftercare. At the heart of it all is the controversy over the outcome of the November presidential election, which Trump’s most radical supporters are now pursuing. In the interview, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, former Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja (sd) and Niko Hatakka from the Center for Parliamentary Research, who studied populism. Edited by Carolus Manninen. In the studio Aki Laine and Marko Miettinen.

The programme is listed here – and is accessible to anybody who is in Finland