In his televised address to Italians on April 10, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was visibly angry as he condemned “fake news” circulated by the Eurosceptic opposition. Over the recent days of talks, Eurogroup finance ministers had agreed that the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) would provide loans to cover health care costs — but remained split over the prospect of “coronabonds” to share out the wider costs of the crisis.

Speaking to the nation, Conte insisted that nothing had been agreed for certain. But he also made clear that he wasn’t to blame for the limits of the existing European loan mechanism: “ESM has existed since 2012. It was not established . . . or activated last night. But that is what has falsely and irresponsibly been claimed — and this time I must say it, with names and surnames — by Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni.”

Conte’s use of his address to call out his opponents was widely criticized — veteran anchor Enrico Mentana suggested that these comments shouldn’t have been aired, and Salvini damned the use of the public broadcaster for a “political rally”. But also notable was that Conte had turned his ire not just against Lega leader Salvini, but also another critic of his government — Meloni, president of the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia (Fd’I).