He joined the Forum for Democracy's board as secretary in January 2021 and was its sixth candidate in the
2021 general election. During the campaign, he said that he wanted to introduce a bill prohibiting
censorship by social media companies and that he wanted the mayorship to be an elected office. He also told that he feared
immigration, as it would make the Netherlands unrecognizable and would ruin the
welfare state. Van Meijeren's comments and actions in parliament related to the issue have sparked several controversies. In May 2021, he violated
social distancing rules – in effect due to the
COVID-19 pandemic – after the
maiden speech of fellow member of parliament
Simone Kerseboom, when he congratulated her by kissing and hugging her. When the House's integrity committee received complaints about the incident, Van Meijeren stated that he did not recognize the body's authority. In September, the
Speaker of the House interrupted a debate contribution by Van Meijeren, when he drew a comparison between restrictions for people not vaccinated against COVID-19 and
the persecution of the Jews during World War II. This occurred in a debate about violence and threats against journalists, in which Van Meijeren claimed that the
mainstream media were spreading
fake news and misinformation. Another two months later, after fellow member of parliament
Nilüfer Gündoğan had complained in a debate about intimidating emails, Van Meijeren said that he was proud that his supporters were going all out to change her mind about the government's COVID-19 policy. Van Meijeren was deprived of the floor by the Speaker in January 2022 for violating the ban on calls for lawlessness of the House's
rules of procedure; he had advocated
civil disobedience of COVID-19 restrictions after he had called them criminal and had expressed his distrust of the Dutch legal system. The Speaker had been criticized in the preceding days for not intervening enough. Van Meijeren subsequently argued during a debate about norms that freedom of speech has come under threat in the House of Representatives. In June 2022, over 300 scientists signed a letter, in which they decried attacks on the scientific community. The direct cause was Van Meijeren accusing infectionist
Jaap van Dissel – noted for his work related to the COVID-19 pandemic – of corruption. A documentary called (Gideon: In search of the truth), in which Van Meijeren investigates COVID-19 vaccinations from a critical point of view, was released by Docsfair in early 2022. The documentary's premier in
Tuschinski Theatre was canceled as cinema chain
Pathé found it inappropriate to show a film about him in a place that was founded by a Jew who was killed as part of
the Holocaust given earlier comments by Van Meijeren.
Anti-government statements While a House member, he told in an interview that he did not consider the Netherlands to be a democracy anymore, arguing that decisions are made in back rooms and that they cannot be changed by the parliament. Van Meijeren also criticized the
mainstream media in the Netherlands. In October 2022, he made a video in which he approached a journalist to hold her accountable for a mistake and compared her to a sewer rat. The action was widely condemned by other politicians including Prime Minister
Mark Rutte, who called it a "new low point", as well as by the
Dutch Association of Journalists. Van Meijeren and his party have often expressed their belief – labeled by media as a
conspiracy theory – that the government is working with the
World Economic Forum (WEF), a non-governmental organization, to subjugate the population. His comments during an interview with website Compleetdenkers in November again sparked criticism, including from the prime minister. Van Meijeren voiced his opinion that freedoms were being curtailed by the Dutch government and said that regimes exhibiting tyrannical behavior had been overthrown by the people before. He hoped that a revolution – during which people would march to the parliament building – would be peaceful but said this had often not been the case. His comments drew comparisons to the
January 6 United States Capitol attack, which had occurred two years earlier. The
Public Prosecution Service announced in September 2023 that it would prosecute Van Meijeren for
incitement, focusing on his comments on Compleetdenkers as well as a speech at a July 2022 farmers' protest in
Tuil. In the latter, he had told that "it is permissible to violently resist the government if it were to expropriate farmers". Van Meijeren stated that his prosecution appeared politically motivated. He was sentenced to 200 hours of
community service by a court in The Hague in June 2024.
NRC wrote that Van Meijeren had become "one of the best-known FVD members due to his fierce statements." The article also noted that he often appears at anti-government demonstrations as well as in videos of the party.
Second term He was
re-elected in November 2023. When Thierry Baudet stepped down effective 13 January 2025 to go on paternity leave, Van Meijeren succeeded him as the FVD's
parliamentary leader in the House.
Committee assignments 2021–2023 term • Committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality • Committee for the Interior • Committee for Justice and Security • Contact group Belgium
2023–present term • Committee for the Interior • Committee for Justice and Security • Temporary committee Fundamental rights and constitutional review • Contact group Belgium • Committee for Asylum and Migration • Committee for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature == Personal life ==