Source: Politics<\/p>\n
DALLAS \u2014 Viktor Orb\u00e1n took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas with an invitation for the American right.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here to tell you that we should unite our forces,\u201d said Orb\u00e1n, the Hungarian prime minister who has found himself increasingly alienated from democratic countries in Europe, as he has opposed immigration and liberal views on family and gender \u2014 and increasingly close with the MAGA-aligned American right.<\/p>\n
Touching on his signature issues, the far-right leader railed against immigration, globalism and gender fluidity as he declared that the \u201cWest is at war with itself,\u201d describing an ideological \u201cbattle for Western civilization\u201d he said would be fought in Washington and Brussels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe globalists can all go to hell,\u201d Orb\u00e1n said to enthusiastic applause. \u201cI have come to Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the very first guests to speak during the three-day conference, Orb\u00e1n\u2019s speech at CPAC comes amid swift international blowback for the prime minister over his July 23 comments that Hungary must not become a \u201cmixed-race\u201d country, pointing to other nations in Europe with large immigrant populations. One of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s top aides resigned over his comments, saying his speech sounded as if it were given by a \u201cNazi.\u201d<\/p>\n
But inside a half-empty convention hall at the start of CPAC, as expected, Orb\u00e1n received a welcome reception from American activists who seemed unfamiliar with \u2014 but intrigued by \u2014 his policy of increased government spending to promote traditional marriage and encouraging citizens to have more children.<\/p>\n
To the extent that CPAC gatherings are an opportunity to reinforce emerging themes in conservative politics with the Republican faithful, signs point to a growing number of politicians on the right embracing that type of nationalistic populism, which ramps up government spending to ease burdens on citizens with children \u2014 while also delivering condemnations of same-sex families, transgender rights and open borders.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolitics are not enough,\u201d Orb\u00e1n said. \u201cThis war is a culture war. We have to revitalize our churches, our families, our universities and our community institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead of the conference, the organizers of CPAC didn\u2019t rush to defend Orb\u00e1n\u2019s comments on race \u2014 but made clear the Hungarian prime minister was still a welcome guest at their Dallas conference. Matt Schlapp, who chairs the American Conservative Union that hosts CPAC, said after Orb\u00e1n\u2019s controversial remarks that the conference would \u201clet the man speak.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Schlapp and his organization, like Tucker Carlson and other right-wing American commentators, have developed a cozy relationship with Orb\u00e1n and his government in Hungary. In May, CPAC held its first conference in Hungary, where former President Donald Trump addressed the audience by video. On Tuesday, Orb\u00e1n was welcomed by Trump to his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., where he called the Hungarian leader a “friend.”<\/p>\n
Ede and Lilla Vessey, a married couple living in Dallas, wore \u201cHungary\u201d T-shirts at CPAC on Thursday, a nod to their native country.<\/p>\n
The reaction to Orb\u00e1n\u2019s \u201cmixed-race\u201d remarks was \u201ca little bit overblown,\u201d Ede Vessey said, maintaining that the prime minister was referring to a stark clash of cultures that has taken place in some Western European countries that have accepted refugees from predominantly Muslim countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cHungary is a really small country, and you really cannot compare with the U.S.,\u201d Lilla Vessey said. \u201cIt\u2019s just not the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
They praised Hungary\u2019s extensive government support for young married couples \u2014 a strategy Orb\u00e1n\u2019s administration has employed to increase the nation\u2019s birth rate \u2014 and suggested conservatives in America should embrace similar policies. Some Republican politicians are beginning to champion larger tax credits for families with children, including Ohio Senate hopeful J.D. Vance, who is among the speakers at CPAC Texas, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who says he is working to pass legislation to provide more government resources to new mothers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why Mr. Orb\u00e1n is so popular there, because he is family friendly,\u201d Lilla Vessey said. \u201cWe have been recently in Budapest and people are very happy with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Orb\u00e1n has enjoyed wide support in Hungary \u2014 where his political party has effectively established its own media empire, funded in part by the government \u2014 despite being shunned by much of the rest of the European Union. The Hungarian prime minister has cultivated strong ties with Russia and China since returning to power a decade ago, and he has diverged from his European colleagues and NATO allies who are attempting to impose strict sanctions on Russia amid its war with Ukraine.<\/p>\n
But even some of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s top conservative allies resisted jumping to his defense with his most recent comments.<\/p>\n
Most attendees of CPAC, of course, aren\u2019t voracious consumers of Hungarian news or students of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s ideology. In some cases, the recent headlines were concerning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t know everything he says, but it was a race issue. You know, I think that makes us look bad,\u201d said Barbara Chapman, who lives in Texas, ahead of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve got Republicans of all races. Dr. Ben Carson’s talking, you know \u2014 I really want to see him. I don’t think it should be white-specific. We need Asians, Hispanics, Blacks, whites,” she continued.<\/p>\n
But in a text message after Orb\u00e1n\u2019s speech, Chapman changed her tune, suggesting that news media have misconstrued Orb\u00e1n\u2019s positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll in all, I loved him,\u201d Chapman wrote, calling the prime minister \u201ccharming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrew Sweet, a conference attendee from New Jersey, said that CPAC offering a stage to Orb\u00e1n did not amount to a full endorsement of his ideology. But Sweet, a self-described \u201ccentrist\u201d in the party, cautioned that Republicans should avoid embracing any type of nationalist approach that seeks to make the nation homogeneous in terms of race or beliefs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally believe that more diversity is good,\u201d Sweet said. \u201cMore types of voices, different experiences and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t mean Republicans can\u2019t hear from conservatives who have taken a different approach, Sweet argued.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to be like, here’s an example of conservatism from Hungary,\u201d Sweet said. \u201cIt’s another thing to fully endorse the message that he\u2019s about to say. You know, it\u2019s slightly different.\u201d<\/p>\n