Key Trump ally may be headed for defeat

Although far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán draws scathing criticism from a combination of Democrats and right-wing Never Trump conservatives, he is an icon to the MAGA movement. U.S. President Donald Trump considers Orbán a valuable ally, and other MAGA Republicans — from "War Room" host Steve Bannon to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to Arizona's Kari Lake — routinely praise him as a role model for "illiberal democracy." And the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has featured Orbán at their events.

Never Trumper Mona Charen, a veteran conservative columnist who worked in the Reagan White House during the 1980s, considers pro-Orbán Republicans "useful idiots" and compares them to Americans leftists who praised Cuban dictator Fidel Castro during the 1960s and 1970s.

In Hungary's April 12 parliamentary elections, Orbán's leadership will either be retained or rejected. And he is getting a glowing endorsement from Trump, who praised him as a "fantastic guy." Trump, on his Truth Social platform, wrote, "Viktor Orbán is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary."

But European journalist/author Gellert Tamas, in an op-ed published by The Guardian on March 24, lays out some reasons why Orbán may finally be defeated in April.

"Orbán, a long-term friend and ally of Trump, may need all the support he can gather ahead of the Hungarian parliamentary elections on 12 April," Tamas explains. "The prime minister and his Fidesz party are trailing in most opinion polls. His main challenger, Péter Magyar, and his Tisza party are leading by nearly 10 percentage points. The public debate in Hungary has shifted dramatically: the question is no longer whether the opposition can win, but whether Orbán will accept defeat."

Tamas emphasizes that the "significance" of the April 12 elections "extends far beyond" Hungary and has implications for far-right nationalist figures around the world, from Trump to France's Marine Le Pen to Alice Weidel (co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD, party).

"Despite the new nationalist international's endless rhetoric about the primacy of the 'nation' and devotion to their 'own people,' the struggle against the liberal state remains its overriding priority," Tamas argues. "Its determination to preserve and strengthen its own authoritarian rule will always trump any professed concern for the rights of a particular national community. It is this authoritarian reflex that may ultimately cost Orbán the upcoming Hungarian elections — and, with them, his position as a leading figure of the global authoritarian, nationalist rightwing populist movement."