Trump Loses to a Sane Conservative in Hungary

In Hungary, where Trump had sent the Vice President to stump for fellow corrupt Putin fan-boi, Viktor Orban, opposition leader Peter Magyar's party won Sunday's elections so decisively that Magyar will be able to undo much of the harm Orban did to his country over the last sixteen years:

With nearly all ballots counted, Tisza was set to win 138 seats, more than the two-thirds majority Magyar would need to undo Orbán's constitutional overhaul and combat corruption.

"Together we liberated Hungary, we have reclaimed our country," Magyar told tens of thousands of supporters who danced and cheered near the Danube River in Budapest.

Record turnout underscored how many Hungarians saw the election as a watershed moment for their country.

Orbán was celebrated by conservatives across Europe and the U.S. as the mastermind of the "illiberal" model of democracy. But he lost favour at home with voters who grew weary of economic stagnation, international isolation and oligarchs amassing wealth.

"The election result is painful for us, but clear," Orbán said at the Fidesz campaign offices.

For all his many faults, at least Hungary's version of Donald Trump is capable of admitting defeat, and doing do like a man.

Magyar, a former protege of Orban, is what I would call a relatively sane conservative, notably being more in favor of free markets and cooperation with Europe, rather than its enemies in the Kremlin:

Magyar is often described as conservative liberal, combining market-oriented economic views with an emphasis on civic responsibility, rule of law, and national culture. He frequently states that his movement seeks to move beyond the "old left -- right divide" in Hungarian politics.

Magyar has expressed support for adopting the euro in Hungary once the necessary economic conditions are met. He argues that adopting the common currency would strengthen financial stability and Hungary's position within the European Union (EU).[53] Magyar defines himself as strongly pro-European, supporting deeper cooperation within the EU and alignment with Western democratic values. He has criticized the Orbán government's confrontational stance toward EU institutions and its close relations with Russia. [links omitted]

This is good news for Ukraine in particular and Europe in general, given that Magyar will stop Orban's policy of hindering European aid to Ukraine, and it should come as no surprise that Trump's endorsement didn't save Orban:

So what does it say that Orban has been so decisively repudiated by his own electorate -- and that other right-wing populists in Europe are seeing their popularity sag?

For one thing, it shows that Trump's support may be the kiss of death at a time when the U.S. president is recording record-low approval ratings: In a recent YouGov poll, just 14 percent of people in Britain and France had a favorable view of Trump. In Germany, it was 10 percent, and in Denmark, 3 percent. In Hungary, a poll by the Publicus Institute found that 59 percent of respondents believe that Trump is contributing more to global conflict than to peace. That's what Trump gets for his nonstop abuse of European allies [and] his threats to annex Greenland... [links removed]

New York Magazine nicely sums up the lesson for Trump, not that he'll learn anything:

Orbán found out Sunday that it is much harder to lie to people than he'd thought. His control of the television stations couldn't trick Hungarians into thinking their schools and hospitals weren't deteriorating. They didn't believe that only Ukraine and the European Union were to blame for their woes. They looked squarely at the man who had been in charge for 16 years in the way most Americans are now sizing up Trump, who can't blame Joe Biden or the Democrats for a country he has now governed for more than a year. Trump will not get the 16 years in power Orbán enjoyed, but he has dominated the mass consciousness of our nation for more than a decade. That is a very, very long time to think about Donald Trump. Americans are weary, and a growing number of his old supporters -- not the MAGA obsessives but simply those who weren't fond of Kamala Harris, Biden, or Hillary Clinton -- have buyer's remorse. They've had enough. They long for the day when they can treat Trump's party the way Hungarians drubbed Fidesz.

It is a shame that the Democrats will be the big winners here. So far, they seem just as incapable as Trump of offering anything positive to the American voter.

-- CAV