Not sure what’s more stunning here – that Viktor Orbán was routed in his bid for re-election in Hungary, or that he is actually conceding.
You mean to say, the model for the Trump/MAGA movement knows when the people have spoken?
“The election result is not final yet, but it is understandable and clear,” Orbán told a crowd of supporters on Sunday. “The election result is painful for us, but clear. The responsibility and possibility of governing was not given to us. I have congratulated the winner.”
I am gobsmacked at all of this: first, at the magnitude of the defeat for Orbán, who has led Hungary for the past 16 years, and oversaw a rewrite of the country’s constitution that seemed to make his party’s rule near-eternal.
The victory for Tisza, the opposition party led by Péter Magyar, a former member of Orbán’s Fidesz party, will give the opposition more than two-thirds in the Hungarian legislature, which will allow Tiszla to do its own rewrite of the constitution.
Second, it’s shocking that Orbán didn’t just pull a Trump and try to claim that the election was rigged, and stage a coup to prevent a change of power.
That could still come, but doesn’t seem likely, given what we’re hearing from Orbán, whose loss is going to hit the Trumpers hard.
How hard? Team Trump sent JD Vance to Hungary this week to campaign with Orbán, and Vance was able during the joint appearance to get Donald Trump on the phone – on his third try – to offer a strong endorsement for the fellow wannabe strongman.
“I’m a big fan of Viktor. I’m with him all the way. The United States is with him all the way,” Trump said.
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Chris Graham
