After two years, the Hungarian Prime Minister once again sat down for an interview with former TV host Tucker Carlson.
Days after he was let go, the 53-year-old cable news star, one of the few in the Western media to cover Hungarian issues in a fair way, finally broke his silence and posted a video to his Twitter feed. He did not directly address his firing, but he did have some solemn things to say about the current state of American media and politics.
‘While Budapesters aren’t wealthy, their lives are safe, purposeful, and filled with objective beauty. They perceive that they are temporary stewards of a valuable human condition and assume their descendants ought to inherit it; society is to be preserved, rather than consumed. Mothers with infants and other young children are an unmistakable element of the Hungarian capital. I always felt comfortable when my wife walked alone at night. Violent crime and discarded needles are nonexistent. This is life in the former Eastern Bloc.’
‘I think being in the conservative world, you’re used to the media fabricating things. So, it’s nice to see with my own eyes, and to hear from the people that live here. Obviously,Hungary is viewed favourably by the right wing. I know Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán have met several times, Tucker Carlson has been here. So, in the circles I run in, people have great things to say about Hungary.’
The second annual CPAC Hungary is taking place on 4–5 May at the Bálna shopping and cultural centre in Budapest. The featured speakers include Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Minister of Justice Judit Varga, former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, cable news anchor Tucker Carlson, former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, and former Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša.
During a visit to the United States Balázs Orbán appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show, spoke at a Heritage Foundation conference and gave an interview to the Washington Times.
Rumours have also been floated that this may be a ploy by the Democratic establishment to prevent the incumbent President from running again. As Tucker Carlson said on 12 January, ‘this is pretty clearly the beginning of the end for Joe Biden.’
‘Donald Trump’s sweeping election victory will reshape the European power landscape, catapulting Hungary from a state disdained by Washington, whose ambassador routinely and rudely lambasts his host country, into one of America’s most important allies. It is not good for Europe that it exists as a dependency on the American Empire, but that’s simply a fact. Now that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s good friend is about to return to the White House, Hungary gains the most powerful new ally imaginable in its dealings with its EU partners. The days of bullying Hungary are over.’
‘Before I left for America on this trip, I complained to a Magyar friend about how stubborn Hungarians are, and how they refuse to change their ways of doing things, even when there is a plainly better way. “You’re right, we are like that,” she said. “But consider that our hard-headed temperamental conservatism is also the thing that makes us willing to stand up to Brussels and tell them to go to hell.” Touché.’
‘Hungary’s leaders feel that it is their responsibility to preserve and protect the security and prosperity of the Hungarian nation. And that, surprisingly, is an unusual perspective everywhere else within Western Europe.’
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.