That advice is based on the fact that Italy chose a Trump-like leader — and many later came to regret it.
Italy's version of Trump is Silvio Berlusconi, 79, the media tycoon who served as Italy’s prime minister four times, dating back to 1994. The two men have much in common.
They are both billionaires who got their start in real-estate development and who came into politics as newcomers promising to use their business acumen to revitalize their country’s economy.
Both are brash and self-confident with reputations as womanizers. Both blame much of their country’s woes on immigration. Both seem impervious to critiques and gaffes that would sink other political careers. They even share an obvious concern about their hair: Trump’s billowy coif is an integral part of his look, while Berlusconi admits to at least two hair transplants to cover up an expanding bald spot.
“For Italy watching the election in the US gives us a sense of déjà vu,” said Gian Franco Gallo, a political affairs analyst with ABS Securities in Milan, the USA Today reported on Saturday.
“It’s like you’re re-watching a horror movie, and as the protagonist is about to get ambushed you throw your hands up and scream at the screen, ‘Don’t go through that door!’”
That negative view stems from the fact that during Berlusconi's long reign, which ended in 2011, Italy suffered prolonged periods of economic weakness, political corruption got worse and Berlusconi became ensnared in sex scandals and legal troubles that included a wide range of charges, from false accounting and tax evasion to bribery and paying a minor for sex.
Today, Berlusconi, who is recovering from heart surgery last month, is barred from holding office before 2019 because of his legal problems. Maria Rossi, co-director of Opinion polls, said her polling finds fewer than one in seven Italians would still back him today.
“Every time I see Donald Trump, I think of Silvio Berlusconi,” said Stefano Matucci, 55, a restaurant manager. “I don’t say not to vote for him. In fact, I supported Berlusconi for a while. But if you do vote for someone like that, understand what you get. Silvio always did what was best for Silvio. I think Trump is probably the same.”