Viktor Orban? The only name that Donald Trump could mention to reinforce his standing on the world stage is Viktor Orban?
Many people who watched the debate or heard coverage about in its aftermath may not know much about Viktor Orban. He is the autocratic dictator of Hungary. He is an avid believer in white supremacy; that has led him to severely limit immigration of non-white or non-Christian people into that country. Orban is opposed to LGBTQ rights. He is opposed to any concept of a free press. He is opposed to an independent judiciary. He is opposed to free and fair elections. He is an opponent of free speech.
He is an advocate of the Great Replacement theory, something that is increasingly popular among white conservatives in this country. That is the conspiracy theory that asserts the belief that non-white people are intentionally moving into Hungary to overthrow the cultural and ethnic traditions of the country by becoming an increasingly large voting bloc. Viktor Orban wants closer relationships with other autocrats and dictators in China, Russia, and North Korea. He shows no loyalty or support to NATO or the European Union both of which value the importance of liberal democracies.
In other words, Viktor Orban is doing in Hungary what Trump wants to do in the United States if he returns to the White House. That is why Donald Trump has hosted Viktor Orban twice at his Mara Lago home in Florida.
That is also why the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) — which includes MAGA loyalists like Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and US Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — hosted Viktor Orban at their 2022 annual meeting. CPAC actually held its 2023 annual meeting in Hungary at Orban's invitation.
If anyone wants to know what it would look like to Make America Great Again, they should look at what Viktor Orban has done in Hungary: foster a white, Christian, autocratic nation under the sole control of one strongman leader.
Think of the other world leaders Trump did not turn to in defense of his global standing. He did not turn to the Prime Ministers of Great Britain, Canada, Australia, or Japan. He did not turn to the President of France or the Chancellor of Germany. All of these nations are the traditional allies of the United States. These are the friends and allies that every other American political leader would want to name as their friends on the world stage. It is these political leaders that Kamala Harris was echoing when she said world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump.
The only name that Donald Trump could safely lift up was not one of America's true allies. It was a man who has turned his country into the autocratic society that Trump would like to install in the United States.
My advice to anyone thinking about voting for Donald Trump: be careful what you ask for! We might end up being the Hungary of the Americas.
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The Rev. Dr. Marvin A. McMickle, pastor emeritus of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, is interim senior minister, First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland. He served as president of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, New York, from 2011 to 2019.
