Letter from Rome

Her face, heavily made up and adorned with sparkling piercings, has become emblematic of a new brand of southern populism. Rita De Crescenzo, 45, a Neapolitan TikTok creator with 1.8 million followers, has become known for her headline-grabbing acts while declaring herself ready to enter politics. Her latest move was a video published on May 16 in which she targeted Naples MP Francesco Emilio Borrelli. In a mix of Italian and hard-to-understand Neapolitan dialect, she threatened to "destroy" him.

"You took the bread from my mouth? You came after me? Now, I'm going to blow everything up. I've unleashed myself, and Naples will rise up behind me. With one of my videos, something will happen that you cannot even imagine," threatened De Crescenzo, addressing the progressive lawmaker, a member of the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS). A self-appointed defender of the working-class identity of the impoverished southern Italian city, the influencer reproached the MP for meddling in family affairs – often, as is common in the Mezzogiorno, surrounded by suspicions of fraud, in a region marked by the grip of organized crime.

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