WASHINGTON — Viktor Orbán’s stunning defeat after 16 years leading Hungary with an iron fist has elicited cheers in some corners of the nation’s capital this week, even as many Republicans would rather discuss anything but the strongman President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement counted as their own for the past decade.
“I was glad to see the people of Hungary stand up and send them packing,” Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) told Raw Story. “And we hope to do the same thing for the Trump administration’s congressional enablers in 2026.”
The blow to what has been the steady march of the global far-right has Warnock and other political watchers praying the tides are finally turning back in democracy’s favor.
“Many of the repressive, authoritarian movements that we saw in the 20th Century come back like the mutant strain of an ugly virus in the 21st Century,” Warnock said. “So I’m happy to see the people of Hungary stand up in the way that they did.”
While the political left is cheering, many on the American right are now distancing themselves from, arguably, the Trump White House’s favorite authoritarian abroad.
“Sad”
After traveling to Hungary and campaigning with Orbán during the final days of the election, Vice President JD Vance told reporters he was “sad”after the wannabe dictator lost to Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party.
But in some corners of Capitol Hill, Republican leaders don’t even want to speak Orbán’s name.
“Were you following Viktor Orbán’s race at all?” Raw Story asked Sen. James Risch (R-ID), the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“No,” Risch told Raw Story.
“Were you surprised to see Vice President Vance go over there?” Raw Story inquired.
“No,” Risch replied.
“Is it bad for Trump’s brand that he lost?” Raw Story pressed.
“I’ve gone as far as I want to go in this interview,” Risch said.
Risch was far from alone.
“Was the [Hungarian election] on your radar?” Raw Story asked Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS).
“Oh boy,” Marshall said as the doors on a senators-only elevator pulled shut on him and Raw Story. “You know, I read on it.”
“Because JD Vance went over there…?” Raw Story pressed.
“Yeah, I know,” Marshall said before deflecting. “I’m locked in on things I can impact and things I can do.”
Orbán left a permanent impression on some of the last remaining moderates in Washington, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), when the Hungarian strongman snubbed the senior U.S. senator and other American policymakers on a taxpayer-funded CODEL — or official Congressional Delegation fact-finding trip.
“Was it on my radar? Yes,” Collins told Raw Story. “Because, I guess it was last year or the year before, a CODEL on which I was a participant, went to Hungary, and he refused to meet with us.”
“Oh, really?” Raw Story replied. “I bet that stings to this day.”
“But much more important than that, he was an autocratic anti-democratic authoritarian,” Collins, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said. “I’m delighted that he was defeated.”
“Are you disappointed that Vance went over there and campaigned for him?” Raw Story pressed.
“I was surprised,” Collins, who also chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations — or spending — Committee, told Raw Story as her aide hustled her away.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats were more disgusted than surprised to see the vice president of the United States campaign abroad.
“It’s ridiculous that any sitting vice president is actively engaged in the election of any country,” Warnock said. “But in this case, the sitting vice president of the United States, literally, campaigning for Viktor Orbán, calling him ‘Europe’s only statesman’ — he’s a strongman. He’s an authoritarian.”
Still, other Democrats can’t help but smirk at Vance’s faux pas on the international stage.
“It seems to have backfired,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told Raw Story. “So, you know, maybe it’ll have some bearing on whether Republican candidates here want him campaigning.”
“Cozying up to Putin is not a winning political strategy”
While Democrats are focused on winning November’s midterm elections, many say they’re encouraged that the global march of the alt-right was dealt a major blow.
“It was an amazing outcome,” Murphy said. “I mean, it shows that no matter how badly broken a democracy seems, the people, you know, are still in charge.”
Murphy says there may be another takeaway that officials in the Trump White House should note.
“It shows cozying up to Putin is not a winning political strategy in Europe or the United States,” Murphy told Raw Story.
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