Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose illiberal right-wing policies have served as a template for President Donald Trump’s second term, was roundly defeated last Sunday. His loss, after 16 years in power, offers a lesson for those seeking to safeguard the American experiment from the president’s autocratic bent.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from challenger Péter Magyar’s victory is that if the will of the voters is strong enough, even a hollowed-out democracy can still speak for the people. This bodes ill for Republicans in upcoming elections, as the United States is nowhere near the level of institutional degradation achieved by Orbán and his party.
It has not been for lack of trying, though.
Guided by the Project 2025 blueprint — a plan Trump disavowed during his campaign but which he has followed since his return to the White House — the president has attempted to dismantle constitutional checks and balances, undermine elections and bully and dominate business and civil society.
Trump adviser Steve Bannon once called Orbán “Trump before Trump” and Hungary under his leadership offered a grim preview of what a successfully MAGA-fied America would look like: Government control of universities and the media, courts and federal jobs occupied by loyalists, extreme gerrymandering limiting political opposition and curbed press freedoms.