Guess Who Else (Besides Orbán) Lost in Hungary’s Wipeout Election?

Donald Trump and JD Vance, that’s who. Is the global tide turning against authoritarian illiberalism?

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance treated Hungary’s election like it was a U.S. Senate race in the United States. Vance flew to Budapest to campaign alongside Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He even called Trump at one of Orbán’s rallies, and while on speakerphone, the American president told a crowd that Orbán had done “a fantastic job.” The president repeatedly urged Hungarians to back Orbán in his social posts.

But on Sunday, Orbán’s Fidesz Party lost resoundingly in the Hungarian elections, ending Orbán’s 16-year reign as prime minister. Opposition party Tisza is projected to win more than two-thirds of the 199 seats in Hungary’s Parliament. This is a huge victory for liberal and pro-democracy voices not only in Hungary but across the world. Orbán is an intellectual leader of the global far-right movement that has reshaped politics around the world over the last decade. He and his allies have come up with strategies to weaken the judiciary, the media, academia, and other independent sources of power in Hungary, which Trump and other leaders around the world have then implemented in their countries. It’s also another huge defeat for Trump. Candidates that Trump supports have been losing elections across the United States over the last year, Now his losing streak has crossed the Atlantic.

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