... continued ...

* The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. In December 2016 CPAC extended an invitation to conservative blogger Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at the event, despite his history of controversial views on feminism, racial minorities, and transgender issues.

... continued ...

... continued ...

The invitation was canceled when the Reagan Battalion re-posted a video of 2016 and 2015 YouTube videos in which Yiannopoulos is heard making comments defending sexual relationships between adult men and 13-year-old boys, citing his own sexual experiences at that age with a Catholic priest. ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Political_Action_Conference

... continued ...

... continued ...

Steve Bannon's Eurosceptic right-wing populist group, "The Movement". stands as a counterpoint to George Soros' globalist "Open Society Foundations". In 2018-07 Bannon and other staff of Donald Trump met with Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska, in Washington, D.C., attempting to expand influence in the Balkans. The Movement has attracted the attention of Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, who spoke positively of the group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Movement_(right-wing_populist_group)

... continued ...

... continued ...

* (2022-08-05, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/08/05/we-should-unite-our-forces-orban-serves-far-right-red-meat-cpac-crowd ) "'We Should Unite Our Forces:' Orbán Serves Up Far-Right Red Meat to CPAC Crowd. 'The Republican playbook is the Viktor Orbán playbook,' said one observer. 'And you can call that what you want - but I am going to continue to call it fascism.'

... continued ...

... continued ...

* (2022-09-24, https://www.newsweek.com/georgia-meloni-italy-elections-steve-bannon-revolution-1746006 ) "Giorgia Meloni Set to Give Steve Bannon a Huge Victory for His 'Revolution'." Former White House strategist Steve Bannon may be another step closer to achieving his goal of seeing a far-right populist movement spread across Europe should Giorgia Meloni become Italy's new prime minister. ... "I've said for years that Italy is the worldwide laboratory for the populist-nationalist revolution, said Steve Bannon. ...

... continued ...

... continued ...

Steve Bannon, a leading member of the so-called "alt-right" movement in the U.S., has frequently waded into European politics over the years after helping Trump into the White House. In 2017, Steve Bannon announced he was launching a European operation called "The Movement."

... continued ...

... continued ...

Bannon's "The Movement" sought to unite European nationalists such as Nigel Farage, British politician and key Brexit campaigner, France's Marine Le Pen of the National Rally party and Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in a bid to get more far-right politicians elected in the European Parliament elections. However, "The Movement" eventually lost momentum, with a number of parties not willing to formally accept the coalition set out by Steve Bannon.)

... continued ...

... continued ...

* (2022-10-28, https://newrepublic.com/article/168327/andy-harris-maryland-congressman-viktor-orban-fanboy ) "Meet the Congressman Who Is Viktor Orbán's Biggest Fanboy. Maryland's Andy Harris loves the Hungarian strongman.

Andy Harris' attempts to block the resolution are a small slice of his aggressive advocacy for Hungary and Orbán in recent years and parallels other moves by conservatives to forge closer ties with Orbán that accelerated during Donald Trump's presidency.

... continued ...

... continued ...

The 65-year-old Harris, a physician by training, has become increasingly vocal this year in promoting Orbán's hard-right policies and linking Orbán's agenda with that of U.S. conservatives, as he did in a video address to a Conservative Political Action Conference in Budapest in 2022-05 (where Orbán spoke as well) and in remarks to the Hungarian press, where Harris has heaped praise on Orbán.

... continued ...

... continued ...

Speaking to a Hungarian paper just days before Viktor Orbán addressed another CPAC event in Dallas in 2022-08, Andy Harris lauded Orbán for advocating "conservative policies, despite strong criticism of left-wing E.U. governments, which are closely aligned with the Republican Party's platform for the next two election campaigns. In particular, on social issues and border security."

... continued ...

... continued ...

He added: "Viktor Orbán is right: Nations must defend their identities and borders, and Western civilization is based on Judeo-Christian values, especially the role and importance of the family." If the American right does manage to turn the U.S. into an Orbánesque illiberal democracy, history will note well the roles played by the likes of Tucker Carlson and CPAC leader Matt Schlapp. It will likely overlook Andy Harris - it should not.

... continued ...

... continued ...

* (2023-04-28, https://truthout.org/articles/floridas-ron-desantis-is-just-a-step-behind-hungarys-fascist-viktor-orban/) "Florida's Ron DeSantis Is Just a Step Behind Hungary's Fascist Viktor Orbán (Viktor Orban). Anti-LGBTQ attacks in Hungary are offering bigoted inspiration to the far right in the U.S." This month (2023-04) the right-dominated Parliament of Hungary passed a federal law encouraging its citizens to report same-sex families with children to local authorities.

... continued ...

... continued ...

The bill targets same-sex families for breaching the "constitutionally recognized role of marriage and the family." ... THE U.S. RIGHT WING LOOKS TO HUNGARY FOR INSPIRATION. The similarities between the tactics used by the GOP and the government of Viktor Orbán - the authoritarian prime minister of Hungary - are not incidental. "Many right-wing U.S. intellectuals and journalists (Tucker Carlson, etc.) consider Viktor Orbán as a role model"

... continued ...

... continued ...

"For a while I thought that they don't know what Viktor Orbán is doing in terms of centralization, removing checks and balances, clampdown on freedom of speech, etc., but now I think they know it and they like it .... Once Donald Trump is replaced by a better organized and smarter leader, U.S. democracy can get into real danger."

... continued ...

... continued ...

In the past decade, Viktor Orbán has targeted marginalized populations such as the Roma, LGBTQ and Jewish communities. Activist Viktor Mak, who moved from Hungary to Vienna in March (2023-03), explained to Truthout that the Viktor Orbán government has tactfully fostered Viktor Orbán as "the leader of this global conservative movement," fostering the authoritarian turn of the Republican Party and stoking the far right in the U.S.

... continued ...

... continued ...

William Horne - a history scholar and postdoctoral fellow at Villanova University - also underscored the active connections between right-wing forces in Hungary and the U.S. "While we tend to think about these as separate threats, in many respects, they are part of the same global fascist movement supported and spread by the same far right information networks," William Horne told Truthout.

... continued ...

... continued ...

"While Republicans praise the repressive regimes of adversaries because of their oppressive nature, they have worked hard to court and create what is now a burgeoning global fascist movement. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is a prime example of these efforts, with Christian nationalist dictators like Viktor Orbán literally taking center stage." ...

[END OF THREAD]

Addendum 1

Why GOP Fell in Love w. Hungary
Central European country isn’t exactly right-wing paradise portrayed by Republicans
https://newrepublic.com/article/175368/why-republicans-love-hungary-orban

* Hungarian & GOP cooperation stretches back more than a decade
* deepened as GOP showcases Hungary as model of right-wing, anti-woke governance
* Orbán expands international profile, connection to international right

#Hungary #Orban #GOP #GOPmenace #fascism #neofascism #Bannon #Trumpism #CPAC #TuckerCarlson #FoxNews #disinformation