Viktor Orbán has been one of Donald Trump and the right’s role models for the destruction of democracy.
As The Daily’s Sarah Jones wrote:
Republicans have taken basic courses on autocratization from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Hungary testifies to the soft fascism that is the end goal of all Republican actions. Globally, the conservatives’ goal is to defeat international liberalism, resulting in the increasing pressure we see against Western democracy.
One of the Orbán-style attacks on democracy is the use of the law to seize power. If what they want is illegal, change the law to make it legal. They must make changes to the law to allow them to achieve their goal, and then argue for first principles in their defense, which is particularly and specifically ironic considering that they are essentially taking away the power of the people, while citing popular sovereignty as their justification – the idea that the power of government comes from the people being governed. When they are charged with abuse of power, they claim that “this is my democratic mandate.”
Orbán visited the White House, was a featured speaker at CPAC, and was held up by MAGA as an example of what they wanted the United States to become.
Orbán has eroded democracy in Hungary and concentrated power, while at the same time being one of Putin’s closest allies and an ongoing problem for the EU.
Orbán’s defeat is a crucial turning point in the global struggle for democracy.
