Jetten held up his surprise victory as a model for center-left parties fighting the rise of right-wing populism worldwide. He cast himself as a patriotic progressive but also broke with liberal orthodoxy on immigration — Wilders’ strongest issue — by calling for limits on migration and acknowledging that increased immigration can create “a burden in large working-class neighborhoods.” “I think we’ve now shown to the rest of Europe and the world that it is possible to beat the populist movements if you campaign with a positive message for your country,” Jetten told reporters on October 31, two days after the election, according to Al Jazeera.
Since November of last year, Jetten has been engaged to Nico Keenan, a bisexual two-time Olympian who competed for Argentina in field hockey but now plays midfielder and forward for Klein Zwitserland in the Hoofdklasse, the top league in the Netherlands. The couple is expected to wed next year. Speaking to the Dutch outlet Trouw in April, Keenan said he had received messages of support and gratitude from fans for competing as an openly bisexual athlete. “People told me how happy they were that there was finally an openly bisexual hockey player in the Premier League,” he said.
