He campaigned on building a wall across the entirety of Hungary's southern border to keep out the "rapists and murderers" fleeing Russian violence in Syria, a promise he has largely kept.
He altered the nation's Constitution to enable what we'd call gerrymandering and voter suppression in much the same way Republicans now do across Red State America, ensuring that his party, Fidesz, would win a majority of the votes in pretty much every election well into the future.
He's packed the courts just like Trump and McConnell did, particularly Hungary's equivalent of the Supreme Court, so thoroughly that even the most serious legal challenges against him and his party go nowhere.
Last year Hungary passed laws requiring "conservative" sex education in schools ("gay is bad" and "abstinence only") and banning any positive portrayal of LGBTQ people on TV. In public campaigns they've conflated homosexuality with pedophilia. The latest anti-gay law passed the Hungarian Parliament by a vote of 157 to 1.
Republicans are trying to do the same here.
Orba'n's party railed against teaching multiracialism and racial tolerance, instead rewriting elementary school textbooks to proclaim that refugees entering the country are a threat because "it can be problematic for different cultures to coexist." Using this logic, he has locked up refugee children in cages with the enthusiastic support of Hungarian white supremacists.
When the Helsinki Committee said Hungary's "indefinite detention of many vulnerable migrants, including families with small children, is cruel and inhuman," Orba'n said the influx of Syrian refugees seeking asylum "poses a security risk and endangers the continent's Christian culture and identity." He added, in true GOP style, "Immigration brings increased crime, especially crimes against women, and lets in the virus of terrorism."
Five years and one week before Trump applauded "Jews will not replace us" American Nazis who rallied in Charlottesville and murdered Heather Heyer, a group of some 700 right-wing "patriots" held a torchlight parade that ended in front of the homes of Hungary's largest minority group, chanting "We will set your homes on fire!"
Orba'n's police watched the thugs, laughing and refusing to intervene, as Roma families fled their homes in terror. In 2013, Zsolt Bayer, one of the founders of Orba'n's party, had called the Roma "animals" unfit to live among people." Orba'n refused to condemn him or the violence, and life has become more and more difficult for racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. Not only are they routinely excluded from job markets, but are also frequently subject to violence at the hands of all-white "militias."
Orba'n has handed government contracts to his favored few, elevating an entire new class of pro-Orba'n businessmen (it appears all are men) who have now seized almost complete control of the nation's economy, as those who opposed him have lost their businesses, been forced to sell their companies, and often fled the country.
Virtually all of Hungary's press is now in the hands of oligarchs and corporations loyal to Orba'n, with hard-right talk radio and television across the country singing his praises daily just like rightwing media here. Billboards and social media proclaim Orba'n's patriotism.
He told the American CPAC conference in Budapest this week they should do the same in America when Republicans seize control of the US government:
"Have your own media," he said. "It's the only way to point out the insanity of the progressive left. The problem is that the western media is adjusted to the leftist viewpoint. Those who taught reporters in universities already had progressive leftist principles."
He added:
"Of course, the GOP has its media allies but they can't compete with the mainstream liberal media. My friend, Tucker Carlson is the only one who puts himself out there. His show is the most popular. What does it mean? It means programs like his should be broadcasted day and night. Or as you say 24/7."
After his speech, many American media outlets were banned from attending CPAC in Budapest this week. As Vice News reported:
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