‘Less drag queens, more Chuck Norris!’: Hungary’s Orban wows Republicans

It was the spiritual homecoming of a political hero.

Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas on Thursday and right-wing Americans lapped it up.

Cheers, whoops and standing ovations greeted the Hungarian leader, a man more used to sneers in parts of Europe, as he attacked opponents, liberals and the media, which may all amount to the same thing for him and those listening in Texas.

Orban championed his record on reducing abortion in Hungary, his hardline stance on LGBT+ rights, and immigration.

He urged Republicans to “take back the institutions”, called those who label him racist “idiots” and then said the West was locked in a “clash of civilisations”.

“A Christian politician cannot be racist,” said Orban, who had a long-time adviser quit recently over a speech the prime minister gave in which he declared his belief that Europeans did not want to become “peoples of mixed race”. The adviser described the speech as “pure Nazi”.

At CPAC, Orban told his receptive audience: “To sum up, the mother is a woman, the father is a man, and leave our kids alone, full stop,” he said.

Pro-family, anti-woke, and proudly anti-progressive, Orban, in short, looked and talked like the ideal candidate for the next US presidential election.

And that was one of the key messages he brought to CPAC, to try and tell American conservatives how to win in 2024.

In a speech titled “How we fight”, Orban told the audience they had “two years to get ready”. He did not endorse any candidate or party, but his appearance at such a partisan event – imagine a foreign leader turning up at, say, a party conference and urging a partisan crowd to win – gives little doubt to where his philosophical feelings lie.

“Victory will never be found by taking the path of least resistance,” he said. “We must take back the institutions in Washington and Brussels. We must find friends and allies in one another.”

Referring to liberal opponents, he said: “They hate me and slander me and my country, as they hate you and slander you for the America you stand for.”

Orban added: “I can already see tomorrow’s headlines. Far-right European racist and antisemite strongman, Trojan horse of Putin, holds speech at conservative conference. But I don’t want to give them any ideas, they know best how to write fake news.”

For good measure, he said: “Less drag queens and more Chuck Norris!”

Orban has become an icon for the right everywhere, but especially in the US. Donald Trump, who lost the last presidential election, said: “Few people know as much about what is going on in the world today.”

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Right-wing TV star Tucker Carlson has fawned over Orban and spent a week broadcasting his show from Hungary last year, claiming the European state was a “small country with a lot of lessons for the rest of us”. A CPAC conference was held in Budapest earlier this year.

Those lessons might especially centre on election winning.

Orban and his Fidesz party won big in April, securing a fourth term in office as Hungarian leader.

He has done so by using techniques that could prove especially useful for American conservatives. Orban consolidated power over Hungary’s judiciary and media, and his party has drawn legislative districts in a way that makes it very difficult for opposition parties to win seats – somewhat similar to partisan gerrymandering efforts for state legislative and congressional seats in the US.

Critics have claimed vote-buying by Fidesz and the European Union has launched legal proceedings against Hungary for withholding billions in recovery funds and credit over violations of rule-of-law standards and insufficient anti-corruption safeguards.

But those in Dallas were impressed with what they heard.

Lilla Vessey, who moved to Dallas from Hungary with her husband, Ede, in the 1980s, said: “He supports the traditional values. He supports the family.”