10
Loading video...
By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has declared Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orbán "an equal" to former President Donald Trump.
Orbán, a champion of what he calls "illiberal democracy," has been accused of undermining his country's democratic institutions. He has been embraced by conservatives in the U.S., particularly supporters of Trump.
Orbán, who maintained close ties to Trump during his presidency, received cheers and a standing ovation at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas last year, where he attacked LGBTQ+ rights, bragged about reducing abortions in Hungary and celebrated hardline immigration measures in his country.
Read More
Mitch McConnell Could Be Replaced by a Democrat. Here’s How5 min read
Ann Coulter Pours Cold Water on Trump’s Mask Mandate Commitment4 min read
Brian Kemp Rejects Georgia Republicans’ Effort to Save Donald Trump5 min read
Lake—a Trump loyalist who lost the race for Arizona governor to Democrat Katie Hobbs last year but refused to concede—and Orbán both addressed the conference when it returned to Budapest for the second time earlier this year.
...
"I had a wonderful conversation with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán when I was in Budapest a few months ago," Lake wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.
Alongside a selfie with the Hungarian prime minister, Lake wrote that Orbán "is a strong leader--the GREATEST in Europe. That's why the media attacks him relentlessly.
"He is an equal to President Trump. His policies have made Hungary Great—now he must work to ward off of WWIII. He puts his people first. We need every nation to do the same."
Lake told Newsweek via email through her spokesperson on Friday: "There's nothing the globalists hate more than men like Bolsonaro, Orban and Trump because they understand what it means to put their own people FIRST. Every country on the planet yearns for a leader like Donald Trump."
Lake's post was in response to an interview Orbán gave to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that was posted on the platform on Tuesday.
In the interview, filmed in Budapest on August 21, Orbán told Carlson that the only path to ending the war in Ukraine would be the reelection of Trump.
"The Russians are far stronger, far more numerous than the Ukrainians," Orbán, Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the European Union, said. "Call back Trump. ... Trump is the man who can save the Western world."
He also said that there was no way Ukraine could defeat Russia. "It is a lie. It's impossible," he said.
His view is at odds with how U.S. and Ukrainian officials have characterized Ukraine's prospects for re-taking Russian-occupied territory.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters last week that the Biden administration does "not assess that the conflict is a stalemate."
He said: "We continue to support Ukraine in its effort to take territory as part of this counteroffensive, and we are seeing it continue to take territory on a methodical, systematic basis."
Newsweek has contacted a Trump spokesperson for further comment via email.
Update 09/04/23, 10:24 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add further comment from Lake.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines