WSJ explains Vance's embrace of a dictator in two words: Tucker Carlson

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shake hands on stage during Day of Friendship event at MTK Sportpark in Budapest, Hungary, April 7, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Pool

The conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal is putting the American vice president on notice for throwing his lot in with Hungarian despot Viktor Orbán, arguably to appease the Tucker Carlson wing of MAGA.

JD Vance was in Budapest on Tuesday “to meddle in Hungary’s national election,” said the WSJ editorial board, but it appears to be in an effort “to help himself in 2028.”

"By showing up in Budapest, and doing a rally and presser with Mr. Orbán, Mr. Vance is pursuing his strategy of solidifying support on the MAGA right. Tucker Carlson is especially fond of Mr. Orbán, and Mr. Vance wants no degree of separation from the podcaster and his various acolytes," said WSJ. "Think of the Hungarian visit as part of the MAGA podcast primary."

But Carlson, an early skeptic about the Iraq War, has called Trump's invasion “absolutely disgusting and evil, prompting Trump to respond that “Tucker has lost his way” and “he’s not MAGA."

A large sector of MAGA's "America First" wing hotly disapprove of Trump's invasion, and consider it a betrayal of America First. But if Carlson’s ruptures with Trump widen, observers say "he could then portray himself to a disillusioned MAGA base as the true leader of their movement" and potentially "run for president himself in 2028."

Vance, a presidential aspirant, may be looking to commandeer the emerging Carlson enclave.

Without some ulterior motive, WSJ says there's no clear reason for Vance to embrace a dictator with so many contradictions.

“Mr. Vance trotted out the word ‘sovereignty’ repeatedly during Tuesday’s appearance in Budapest to inveigh against putative EU meddling in Hungarian affairs,” but the WSJ called that claim “the biggest howler” considering Orbán has never proposed leaving the EU like Britain did in 2016. Hungarians benefit from the EU and would hate it.

Additionally, “Vance’s Hungarian romance” is damaging to U.S. interests, said the WSJ, including with the ongoing Russian invasion of U.S. ally Ukraine, which WSJ says Orbán complicates by being a Russian ally.

“Mr. Vance’s support for Mr. Orbán is so strong that he is wrapping his arms around him even as Mr. Orbán may lose Sunday’s election amid frustration with the poor state of Hungary’s economy,” said the WSJ, potentially alienating “conventional center-right politician, Péter Magyar.”

“American conservatives have plenty of reasons to distrust Europe. But Mr. Vance isn’t winning many friends for America by treating Hungary’s election like it’s the Iowa caucuses,” said the WSJ.

From Your Site Articles