Hungary’s autocratic ruler, Viktor Orbán, a favorite of Donald Trump, JD Vance and Marco Rubio, faces reelection April 12. Polls show Orbán may well lose, even decisively. That would end his 16-year rule that has seen the erosion of democracy, the rule of law, higher education and a free press.
He has tried to fix elections in the past, or at least he’s messed with them, and already there are fears that he may go further this time, maybe even cancel the election, as he’s warning falsely that if he’s not reelected, Hungary will be drawn into the Russian-Ukraine war.
You know, it looks like none of this will work, although with Orbán you can’t bet that way. He’s desperate to hold power. Autocrats always are. So watch these next few weeks carefully to see what a desperate man might do. And unfortunately, it might be a leading indicator for what happens here in America.
He most likely will copy Turkish president Erdogan, 1. change the constitution, 2. stock unrests and fights in the parlement,3 collect voting results in his own place and conduct counting himself, 4. arrest opposition leaders so they cannot compete during the election from the jail.