Viktor Orban is now the darling of the US right

Hungary’s leader can teach them a thing or two about battling ‘wokery’ – all of it is sinister, writes David Harding

Tuesday 02 August 2022 21:30 BST

The controversial leader is due to speak at the annual CPAC conference (AP)

The CPAC website is off-putting enough. There, at the top, with his trademark sinister stare is the man who lost the last US presidential election and then tried to retain power through a mob.

Next to Donald Trump is a picture of TV host Sean Hannity, with his helmet-like hair and fixed grin. Also peering out is a sleepy-eyed Ted Cruz.

If you have enough stomach to scroll down, then the guestlist of speakers for this year’s event, which takes place in Texas this weekend, will give you another shudder: Sarah Palin, Steve Bannon, Eduardo Bolsonaro and our very own Nigel Farage.

To hear these people speak costs as “little” as $98 (£80), though if you attend the Cattleman’s Ball at the same event the price will rocket.

But despite the A-list of far-righters set to speak, one name stands out: Viktor Orban. It is extremely rare for the leader of a European Union state to address the annual conference of the organisation for American conservative activists, but then Orban is extremely rare for a European Union leader.

He is the darling of the US right, a man seen as standing up successfully against the “wokery” of political opponents, the anti-authoritarian reformist who has morphed into an autocrat, the international head of the backlash against “culture wars”.

Orban has even called his country a “laboratory” to combat “progressive dominance”. But his visit should not be so surprising, even if it comes on the heels of his “openly racist” speech last month when he said Europeans should not “become peoples of mixed race”.

In many ways, the audience Orban will encounter in Dallas at the weekend is far more to his liking than anything he will encounter in Brussels or Strasbourg. He can say such things without impunity, just like many of those who will be in the crowd.

They will love him and, in turn, Orban can provide those in Texas with one big, valuable lesson – how to win elections, something he is very skilled at, and by using the apparatus of the state to do so.

He gradually amended Hungary’s constitution over time to neuter the opposition, and the state to ensure many vulnerable people cannot afford to not vote for him. He used a sympathetic media to constantly plug his messages and he triumphed for a fourth time this year.

Those on the US right would love to copy the rules of the Orban playbook, and when it comes to the media and voting rules, have already moved to do so. And worryingly, they have big elections coming up in the States.

Yours,