#GobiernoCriminal! Framing the Spanish far right during the first Covid-19 wave

Abstract

Extremist parties have become important political actors in the European Parliament and participate in national or regional coalitions. Spanish party Vox defends a combination of tradition, conservatism, nationalism, liberalism, and far-right values. Vox became the third force of the Spanish Parliament growing rapidly amid the harsh social measures taken by the Spanish Government. Without the editorial control of traditional media, far-right discourse is highly prominent on social media also for Vox. The objective of this research is to define the political strategy implemented by Vox on Twitter during the first lockdown in Spain. The research applies framing analysis in three phases: open coding and axial coding to subsamples and a final framing analysis on a sample of 6095 tweets. Results show three main frames. Anti-elitism is defined as victimhood and anti-vox conspiracy. Essentialism is defined as moral, national essentialism, and public order. And finally, Criminal Government, the new frame accusing the government. This study suggests that Vox combines the populist, liberal and conservative discourses to deny the government’s legitimacy and to turn into an alternative option, although their party dubiously is.