… If anything, the notion that Hungary supports ‘Western civilization’ stems directly from the kind of bigoted policies that many far-right, traditionalist Americans would like to see replicated in the U.S.”ĭuring an appearance on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” on Sunday, The Atlantic’s Yasmeen Serhan said Carlson’s description of Hungary “really boggles the mind.” “After all,” Michel writes, “Trump and his supporters have proved only too happy to mimic Orbán’s authoritarian steps over the past few years. Carlson has been effusive in his praise, depicting the Hungarian leader as a virtuous champion of family values and a model for the United States.” Orban is increasingly shunned by many European conservatives, Mr. He adds, “If anything, the notion that Hungary supports ‘Western civilization’ stems directly from the kind of bigoted policies that many far-right, traditionalist Americans would like to see replicated in the U.S.”Ĭarlson’s fawning over Orbán and Hungary is not all that surprising. “Not only does Transparency International now rank Hungary lower than dictatorships like Belarus or Cuba in its Corruption Perceptions Index, but the government in Budapest has transformed into little more than a vehicle for pillaging.” “Or look at the culture of corruption and elite predation that Orbán has fostered,” Michel writes. As Michel points out, Reporters Without Borders named Orbán an “enemy of press freedom.” Orbán is the only European Union leader to make the list, his name alongside the likes of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Pick any metric you’d like, and Hungary’s self-proclaimed ‘democracy’ hardly survives scrutiny.”įor example, start with press freedoms. Under a decade of Orbán’s rule, Hungary has transformed from a bright spot of political freedoms to a cautionary tale in how a right-wing authoritarian can dismantle a democracy, piece by piece, while helping his cronies profit along the way. In a piece for NBC News’ THINK, Casey Michel, author of “American Kleptocracy,” writes, “For anyone who’s followed Hungary’s trajectory under Orbán, Carlson’s paeans to the country’s supposed ‘democracy’ are laughable.

Orban, whom he admires, on the map for his viewers back home, a conservative audience that may be open to the sort of illiberalism promoted by the Hungarian leader.” Carlson, the Hungary trip was an opportunity to put Mr. The New York Times’ Benjamin Novak and Michael M.

Or how about this quote from Carlson? “Who’s freer? If you’re an American, the answer is painful to admit.” In fact, Carlson even said on his show, “If you care about Western civilization and democracy and families and the ferocious assault on all three of those things by the leaders of our global institutions, you should know what is happening here right now.”Ĭarlson meant that as a compliment of Hungary’s ways of doing things. And a preview for what Carlson would like to see happen right here in the United States. If you saw any of it, it looked an awful lot like one giant infomercial for Orbán. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson spent last week in Hungary, met with authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and gave a speech at a far-right conference in Budapest that is backed by Orbán and his government.

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