[1]: 2 He wrote that this "underscor[ed] how originally distant actors, marginal discourses and random events may be amplified through transnational circulation of ideas and images", and noted that some regarded the shift to the right as evidence of a counter-strategy by business interests to oppose the radical left of the 1970s, or as a "purposive elite strategy of political communication.
[5] According to political scientist Bruce Miroff, American conservatives may engage in Sweden-bashing as Sweden managed to have both economic efficiency and equality, something they feel is impossible.
[7] The report said that Sweden was being used as a deterrent and an argument against allowing more refugees, and was being characterised by the Daily Mail as "naive and an example of the negative consequences of a liberal migration policy.
[8] Janouch said that "Swedes were learning to use guns to defend themselves as a result of increased immigration,"[9] that Swedish seniors do not have enough money for food, cancer patients were dying because of the long waiting lines caused by tens of thousands newly arrived refugees—77% of whom are men pretending to be minors—women are being raped, and 150,000 left Sweden for the United States and elsewhere.
[12] Reacting to the editorial, Sweden's justice and migration minister Morgan Johansson accused Åkesson and Karlsson of lying about the immigrant crime situation, saying "They're painting a picture of a country characterized by violence, when it's the exact opposite.
[17] Eurosceptic politician Nigel Farage has consistently criticised Sweden in similar rhetoric to Trump, making references to refugees, immigrants and violent crime.
[22] In a 2002 opinion article in New York Times Magazine, progressive economist Paul Krugman used the term "Sweden-bashing" in arguing that American conservatives attacked Swedish welfare policies as part of an effort to spread a misguided view that redistribution of wealth to poorer citizens promotes economic inefficiency.
[23] In an editorial titled "Political Strategy Behind Sweden-Bashing" in the daily newspaper Sydsvenskan, Joakim Palmkvist and Olle Lonnaeus identified possible political motives that might explain some Israeli criticism of Swedish press freedoms, such as a desire by the critics to gain domestic support, to pressure Sweden as chairman of the European Union in advance of coming peace talks on the Palestinian conflict, or even to prompt a press crackdown by the Swedish government.
[24] According to government agency Swedish Institute, while much of the foreign media reporting on how Sweden was to handle so many migrants at one time was accurate, some people with a political agenda turned to Sweden-bashing.