Isabella Rauti and the photo with the machine gun: the Undersecretary of Defense as Joe Formaggio

First the photo of the Veneto regional councilor of Fratelli d’Italia, Joe Formaggio, now that of Senator Isabella Rauti. Two shots that have in common the object that both are holding and that started the controversy. The first was immortalized at the hunting fair in Verona with an Uzi submachine gun under his arm, however, the Undersecretary of Defense was photographed with a submachine gun in her hands at the Idex-Navdex fair in Abu Dhabi, one of the most important world exhibitions on the subject of rifles, revolvers and semi-autos.

The fatality is that Rauti is in the company of a friend of Joe Formaggio, Luca Munaretto, the same one who appeared in the photo last week with the Veneto regional councilor. «A careful eye, he immediately evaluates a person’s competence in certain work areas. A pleasure and an honor to have shared some thoughts with the honorable Isabella Rauti », wrote Munaretto on his Facebook profile.

The undersecretary of Fratelli d’Italia had posted a more institutional message: «Second day of visit to the Idex-Navdex fair in Abu Dhabi. Meeting with Italian companies and excellence in the defense sector”. But Joe Formaggio shared photos of him, highlighting that he’s not the only one looking comfortable with rifles and magazines. “That photo (the images of Isabella Rauti, ed) is making the rounds of Albettone (Vicenza), where I live and where I was mayor” the regional councilor told the Vicenza newspaper. «And where Munaretto also lives, owner of the largest Italian shooting range, which I myself helped to create. In the photo I was holding a machine gun just like the undersecretary. So, explain to me: where is the difference? Maybe in the fact that that photo didn’t end up on an institutional site?».

In fact, the controversy raised by the opposition arose from the fact that the shot of armed Joe Formaggio had ended up on an institutional account, on the Instagram profile of the Veneto Regional Council, complete with the caption “always on the side of the arms lobby”. Formaggio’s reply: «Rauti and I do nothing wrong in supporting the lobbies of hunters and guns which, moreover, I know well. Mine is just consistency». In short, no step back on the part of the