{"id":32193,"date":"2024-03-08T12:57:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T20:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=32193"},"modified":"2024-03-08T12:57:45","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T20:57:45","slug":"critics-warn-orban-visit-aimed-at-tutoring-trump-on-how-to-destroy-a-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/08\/critics-warn-orban-visit-aimed-at-tutoring-trump-on-how-to-destroy-a-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics Warn Orb\u00e1n Visit Aimed at Tutoring Trump on ‘How to Destroy a Democracy’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Hungarian<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then-U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a meeting in the Oval Office on May 13, 2019 in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo: Mark Wilson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you want to see Trump’s and the GOP’s vision of America’s future, just look at what Orb\u00e1n’s done to Hungary,” said one observer.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mar 07, 2024 (COMMONDREAMS.ORG)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n is set for a Friday meeting with former U.S. President Donald Trump, an admirer\u2014and potential emulator\u2014of the far-right European leader as progressive voters in Europe, the United States, and dozens of other countries push back against a surging worldwide wave of “soft fascism<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2014who has all but officially secured the Republican presidential nomination\u2014will welcome Orb\u00e1n to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for what’s being described as a “strategy session” ahead of upcoming elections in both the United States and European Union, where far-right parties are poised for major gains<\/a> in the European Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Orb\u00e1n is the <\/em>textbook example of why autocrats are often much more dangerous the second time in office.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orb\u00e1n spoke<\/a> Thursday on a panel with the head of the Heritage Foundation, the influential conservative think tank that fawns<\/a> over the prime minister’s “European values,” and his demonization of progressives and shared bogeymen including Hungarian American philanthropist George Soros. Critics have sounded the alarm on the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which has been described<\/a> as a “far-right playbook for American authoritarianism” in a second Trump term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conspicuously absent from Orb\u00e1n’s agenda is any meeting with Biden administration officials, a rare situation given Hungary’s NATO membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“While the present liberal administration in the U.S. may not actively seek to strengthen ties with Hungary, there is undeniably a growing interest in Hungary among U.S. conservatives,” Bal\u00e1zs Orb\u00e1n, the prime minister’s unrelated political director, told<\/a>The Guardian<\/em>. “Prime Minister Orb\u00e1n is visiting the United States to strengthen these relationships.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Trump set to host Orb\u00e1n at his Mar-a-Lago retreat this week, it\u2019s time to get serious about the rise of the global far right and why its worldview poses such a dire threat. @JacobHeilbrunn<\/a> talks to @GregTSargent<\/a> on the latest Daily Blast: https:\/\/t.co\/PvxEtVmKka<\/a><\/p>— The New Republic (@newrepublic) March 4, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>