Special Report - Orbán at CPAC: A Glimpse of What's To Come

The cultural exchange between authoritarian Hungary and the American Right continued this week as the Conservative Political Action Conference welcomed strongman Viktor Orbán to deliver the opening remarks for their conference in Dallas, Texas.

It is the next step in a burgeoning relationship that last saw the conference head to Budapest, where Orbán delivered a step-by-step lecture on how the Republican Party might solidify its control over America, including a full takeover of the media and the educational system. This visit was more focused on expressing what has already been clear but is now fully stated: “We should unite our forces,” he said, failing to mention that, behind the scenes, the uniting was already done.

Orbán’s address was red meat for the base and an opportunity to introduce him to a wider audience, a project that has been proceeding full-speed ahead since fawning-acolyte Tucker Carlson picked up his Fox News program and hustled to Budapest last year to lick Orbán’s boots and offer his Right Wing-dominated state as an answer to all of the GOP’s “problems.” Now, Orbán, targeting his usual enemies - George Soros, “Globalists,” gay and transgender people, and the so-called “Left” - cast the united fight in terms many of us have been fearing. A fight for “Western Civilization.”