NY Times: Viktor Orbán shows US Republicans how to build a dictatorship

The American journal has recently published an article that analyses in detail the Hungarian political system, putting into focus the regime of PM Viktor Orbán.

The article recalls the opening speech of PM Viktor Orbán at the Conservative Political Action Conference held last week. In his speech, the Hungarian Prime Minister educated the audience on how to defeat the liberal left, reported Nyugati Fény.

According to the left-wing journal, “Mr Orban has received attention in the United States for promoting global culture wars, defending Christian civilisation, ethnic purity, and traditional gender roles against “woke” challenges,” wrote The New York Times.

They say that in order to stay in power, the Hungarian prime minister has played by his own rules.

Since coming to power in 2010, Viktor Orbán has changed hundreds of laws, including the Constitution. Businesses that do not support the government have not been allowed to operate, and funding for opposition-led towns has been cut off to make them look weak and powerless. Little by little, he has removed all the checks and balances, building a real tyrannical system for himself, the article says.

According to the American journal, based on this principle, the American conservative admirers of Orbán also took similar political actions. As a result, during Trump’s presidency, political punishment became a way of doing business in America. In addition, there was continuous cooperation between them, meaning that in 2010, Republican political consultants helped with Mr Orban’s election victory, and similarly, Mr Orbán’s team helped with the Trump 2016 campaign.

Among the “political paybacks”, the journal mentions that the Hungarian PM used his power to “shift business from unfriendly hands to friendly ones,” which includes tobacco to be licensed by the state, the media, as well as banking, energy, and telecom sectors. The businesses that failed to support the governing party were sidelined.

In the article, Donald Trump and Republican politicians are accused of similar political actions.

Namely, the former US president refused to greenlight development projects supported by the opposition and refused to provide financial support to non-voting regions. During his presidency, he put the media on his side and “picked fights with perceived opponents,” like the owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, who openly criticised him.

Among the most recent efforts, the article mentions revoking Disney’s special law status. Disney is being punished by the state’s Republican leadership because the entertainment company protested against a new homophobic law that limits to what degree LGBT issues can be discussed in schools. According to the article, this can be linked to the Hungarian law that PM Viktor Orbán passed in Hungary, banning the display of LGBTQ content to minors. In Hungary, this happens legally. As a clever lawyer, Viktor Orbán can control everything that matters in his country. Similarly, Mr Ron DeSantis, the Republican initiator of “Don’t Say Gay” seems to have similar control in Florida.

Source: nyaugatifeny.hu, nytimes.com