"A full analysis of why Hungarians repudiated Orbán will surely contain many details unique to Hungary. However, it’s also clear that there were three main factors that led to Orbán’s overthrow. And understanding these factors is important if Americans are to defeat Trump’s MAGA regime."
~ Paul Krugman
"First, Hungarians view themselves as part of democratic Europe – not as a satellite of Russia. Hence they wanted an end to autocracy and their freedoms restored.
Second, but just as importantly, they were voting against Orbánist corruption. ... Autocracy and corruption aren’t separate issues. In practice they inevitably go hand in hand."
"They’re a natural pairing, like crypto and crime, because authoritarian rule removes accountability and opens the door for Grand Theft Autocracy. ...
The third factor is that Hungary was a 'soft' autocracy: Orbán maintained the superficial trappings of democracy, such as elections, while undermining the underpinnings of democracy," (continued in /4)
(continued from /3)
"with actions such as intimidating opponents, installing a corrupt judiciary, capturing the media, and silencing any independent voices. …
The good news from Hungary is that blatant corruption doesn’t have to be normalized. In fact, public perceptions of runaway corruption can become a weapon in defense of democracy. The public understands corruption, hates it, and can be mobilized to vote en masse against it."
"Hungary has shown the way. Will America follow?"
"Critics also describe how Orbán routinely created 'imaginary enemies' to distract voters, another Hitlerian maneuver perfected by Trump. From falsely depicting immigrants as violent criminals, to accusing DEI programs of ‘white bashing,’ Trump constantly stokes social division by creating then perpetuating imaginary enemies."
~ Sabrina Haake
#Orbán #Trump #autocracy #corruption #scapegoats #immigrants #antisemitism
/6
https://sabrinahaake.substack.com/p/if-hungary-can-do-it-so-can-we
"Even during his infamous DoorDash delivery this week, Trump clumsily interjected 'men playing women’s sports' into a staged conversation about taxes on tips. The forced non sequitur was awkward for its obviousness."
#Orbán #Trump #autocracy #corruption #scapegoats #immigrants #antisemitism
/7
"There is much that Americans can learn from the Hungarian experience of years spent under the governance of someone accused of dismantling rule of law, a person whose inner circle has grown rich during his time in office. But American Jews in particular should pay attention."
~ Emily Tamkin
#Orbán #Trump #autocracy #corruption #scapegoats #immigrants #antisemitism
/8
https://forward.com/opinion/818143/orban-hungary-election-antisemitism/
"Because Orbán’s administration has used antisemitism as a political tool throughout his time in power, and is desperately turning to this hatred once again on its way, possibly, out the electoral door. ...
This playbook has clear resonances in that deployed by Trump."
#Orbán #Trump #autocracy #corruption #scapegoats #immigrants #antisemitism
/9
"The war in Iran has made everything — even Stephen Miller’s war on immigrants — feel like the Strait of Hormuz....
Miller and Trump, on the other hand, want to fuel bigotry. Their entire project depends on hate."
~ Robert Reich
#Trump #StephenMiller #autocracy #corruption #scapegoats #immigrants #EthnicCleansing #hate
/9
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/steven-millers-strait-of-hormuz
"Like dictators before him, Trump’s road to tyranny is paved with stones hurled at 'them' — whether 'they' are immigrants, Iranians, or anyone else who doesn’t fit the white Christian nationalist mold."
#Trump #StephenMiller #autocracy #corruption #scapegoats #immigrants #EthnicCleansing #hate
/10
"If you pull these threads together—Reconstruction and Redemption, the Know‑Nothings, McCarthyism, the crime panics—you see different versions of the same playbook. Something changes in the direction of greater equality or pluralism. New voices insist on being heard. In response, elites and would‑be strongmen sound the alarm."
~ Mark Mansour
#Trump #StephenMiller #autocracy #corruption #scapegoats #immigrants #EthnicCleansing #hate
/11
"They insist the country is being stolen, that real people are losing control, that chaos is spreading. ...
Moral and media panics are not incidental to this project; they are its central tools."
#Trump #StephenMiller #autocracy #corruption #scapegoats #immigrants #EthnicCleansing #hate
/12
Cathy Young surveys the response of the American right (read: MAGA) to Orbán's defeat and concludes that those folks aren't taking the loss well. Elon Musk predictably goes low (and antisemitic) by lamenting that Soros (!) has taken over Hungary. Others like Rod Dreher want to pretend that Orbán's concession to Magyar proves that he was always about democracy and not autocracy.
#Orbán #Trump #autocracy #corruption #scapegoats #immigrants #antisemitism
/13
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/nationalist-right-orban-loss-election-mourning-hungary-vance-dreher
"Their entire project depends on hate."
IOW, their entire politics depends making people fearful:
"Fear is the fuel that feeds the fires of hate.
Scratch the surface of hate, and you will often find fear hiding beneath.
...
Hate feels strong, while fear feels weak.
However, using hate to cover fear is not strength. It is weakness.
Those who are truly strong, admit their fears, face them, and find ways to overcome them, while those who are weak, hide behind their hate."
~Z. Janz
William Lindsey 
Zhi Zhu 🕸️