Debunked: Posts celebrating Danish party's result in 'tonight's election' are six months late

Denmark has not had a general election since March, and is not due another one until 2030.

MULTIPLE ONLINE POSTS are congratulating an “anti-Islamic migration” political party on gains made during the Danish 21 September election.

The only problem? Denmark hasn’t had an election since March.

“HUGE WIN in Denmark: The right-wing, anti-Islamic migration People’s Party just MORE THAN TRIPLED its vote share and seats in tonight’s election!” say multiple near-identical posts on social media from 21 September.

These posts have been posted on X, Facebook and Instagram. The most influential recent post appears to come from the X account @Tironianae whose profile references “The Great Awakening”, a slogan used by adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

However, the text of these posts appears to be stolen from other social media posts made back in March, when there actually had been an election.

Nevertheless, @Tironianae’s post about the Danish election was shared more than 5,000 times, despite being half a year late.

The Danish People’s Party, which is regularly described in Danish media as far-right, has never been part of the Danish government cabinet, though often acts as a “support party” — that is, its members vote to keep an otherwise minority group in power.

The party has been very critical of Islam, saying it wants to remove its influence from Denmark, proposing measures such as banning halal meat, which is meat slaughtered in accordance with Islamic guidelines.

In the European Parliament, the party stands in the Patriots for Europe group, which was co-founded by former leader of Hungary Victor Orbán.

In Denmark’s most recent general election, last March, the party won 16 of the Danish Parliament’s 179 seats. It is currently in opposition.

At that time, the party had “more than tripled” the seats they held; they only had five seats before the election.

The next Danish general election is not due until 2030.

The false claims might also be inspired by the party’s recent gains in opinion polls, though again, these do not show a tripling, or even a doubling of support.

The Danish People’s Party’s best election showing was in 2015, which saw it win 37 seats. It formed an alliance to support a minority government controlled by Venstre, a party that advocates for free-markets.

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