Editing Pim Fortuyn (section)

==Criticism==
[[File:RotterdamGWBurgerPlein060502.png|thumb|Anti-Fortuyn poster of the [[International Socialists (Netherlands)|International Socialists]] with the slogan "Stop de Hollandse Haider" (English: "Stop the Dutch [[Jörg Haider|Haider]]") near Fortuyn's house in Rotterdam on 6 May 2002]]
Fortuyn was compared with the politicians [[Jörg Haider]] and [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]] in the foreign press. These comparisons were often referred to by Dutch reporters and politicians. An explicit comparison with Le Pen was made by [[Ad Melkert]], then ''[[lijsttrekker]]'' of the [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]], who said in [[Emmen, Netherlands|Emmen]] on 24 April 2002: "If you flirt with Fortuyn, then in the Netherlands the same thing will happen as happened in France. There they woke up with Le Pen, soon we will wake up with Fortuyn."<ref>{{in lang|nl}}: "Als je flirt met Fortuyn, dan gebeurt er in Nederland straks hetzelfde als in Frankrijk. Daar zijn ze wakker geworden met Le Pen, straks worden wij wakker met Fortuyn." quote from article in [[Het Financieele Dagblad]], 25 April 2002.</ref>

On 5 May, the day before the assassination, Fortuyn in a debate with Melkert organized by the ''[[Algemeen Dagblad]]'' newspaper claimed that he was [[demonization|demonized]]. In it he said that he often had to tell journalists that the image created of him in the media was incorrect.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} {{YouTube|kCupE2LlFoo|"Het laatste debat"}} Nova, 18 juni 2002</ref>

Columnist [[Jan Blokker]] wrote that "[a]fter reading [...] I realized once again that Professor Pim may really be called the Jean-Marie Le Pen, the Filip Dewinter, the Jörg Haider and the new [[Hans Janmaat]] of the Netherlands."<ref>{{in lang|nl}}: "Na lezing (...) was ik er eens te meer van overtuigd dat Professor Pim wel degelijk de Jean-Marie Le Pen, de Filip Dewinter], de Jörg Haider en de nieuwe Hans Janmaat van Nederland mag heten.", de Volkskrant, 25 March 2002</ref> Prime Minister [[Wim Kok]] accused Fortuyn of stirring up fear and stimulating xenophobia among the Dutch people.<ref name="documentary"/> In the run-up to the 2002 election, [[GroenLinks]] leader [[Paul Rosenmöller]] claimed Fortuyn's policies were "not just [[Right-wing politics|right]] but [[extreme right]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2844/Archief/archief/article/detail/754743/2003/10/24/Iets-te-aardig.dhtml|title=Iets te aardig|work=[[De Volkskrant]]|access-date=20 February 2020|date=24 October 2003|author=Hans Wansink|language=nl|archive-date=23 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923070954/http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2844/Archief/archief/article/detail/754743/2003/10/24/Iets-te-aardig.dhtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

Fortuyn often responded to criticism by maintaining that his views were misunderstood or distorted by the media, and in turn rejected comparisons and expressed personal distaste for radical far-right politicians in other European countries. He explicitly distanced himself from Jean-Marie Le Pen and criticised some of his policies, including Le Pen's downplaying of the Holocaust. During an interview with [[BBC news]] journalist [[Kirsty Lang]], Fortuyn stated that his opposition to Muslim immigration was mistakenly demonized as racism by journalists and his opponents, and instead argued that it was based on his desire to preserve Dutch tolerance towards sexual minorities and women and to prevent cultural clashes within Western society.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/1966979.stm|title= At home with 'Professor Pim'|last= Lang|first= Kirsty|date= 4 May 2002|website= BBC News|publisher= BBC|access-date= 20 February 2020|archive-date= 23 September 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070923022602/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/1966979.stm|url-status= live}}</ref> In domestic politics, Fortuyn also distanced his views from hard-right Dutch politicians such as [[Hans Janmaat]] and [[Joop Glimmerveen]] (who called for the mass expulsion of foreigners from the Netherlands) by maintaining that if he came to power, he would pardon existing illegal immigrants if they had lived in the Netherlands for over five years and offer them a path to citizenship if they could be assimilated into society.

In an interview on the Dutch talk show ''Jensen!'' that was broadcast shortly before his death, Fortuyn accused members of the Dutch government and political establishment of putting his life in danger through repeatedly demonizing him and his beliefs.<ref>{{YouTube|id=B4Sl4CvmjfE|title=Pim Fortuyn: "If Something Were to Happen..."}}</ref>