Dem
47
GOP
53
Hungary is having an election on Sunday. Donald Trump is worried that Viktor Orbán's authoritarian party might lose, so he pulled out the big guns to help. He sent J.D. Vance over there to campaign for him. Trump obviously thinks it is fine for one country to interfere in another country's elections. The 2020 presidential election in the U.S. comes to mind here. But just imagine how useful it would be if Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov showed up in North Carolina in October to stump for Michael Whatley. That would surely put Whatley over the top.
Orbán's policies are similar to Trump's: migration, gender ideology and family policy. He has also tried to muzzle the press and defy the courts. He also supports Russia's effort to take over Ukraine. In many ways, Trump admires Orbán's authoritarian rule and wishes he could do that so easily. Vance is the second administration official to show up in Hungary this year. Marco Rubio was there in February.
If the election is honest—definitely not a given in Hungary—Orbán could lose. Polls show that his primary opponent, Péter Magyar (which means "Hungarian" in the Hungarian language), has a substantial lead. However Magyar has an abrasive style and some people call him arrogant.
Although Vance is smarter and more knowledgeable about policy than Trump, sometimes he doesn't do his homework. Hungary has the lowest electricity prices in Europe and Vance has glommed onto that to tell everyone (especially Americans) how great Orbán is. That statement is, in fact, true. But what Vance apparently does not know is why. Hungary is aggressively transitioning to sustainable energy. The Hungarian Green New Deal is advancing rapidly there. Hungary is the country with the highest share of solar power in the electricity mix in the entire world. And the fuel for solar power—sunlight—is indeed very cheap and does not go through the Strait of Hormuz. It is heavily subsidized and there are price controls. Also, there are vast state subsidies to consumers of electricity. If, upon his return, Vance tells Trump that electricity is very cheap in Hungary and Trump asks: "How do they do it?" he probably will not like the answer. (V)