Top US senator scolds Republican ‘cult of personality’ around Viktor Orbán

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rebuked Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Republicans who have grown fond of the leader on the Senate floor Wednesday.

“I’ve spoken before about Hungary’s decade-long drift into the orbit of the West’s most determined adversaries,” McConnell said. “It’s an alarming trend. And nobody — certainly not the American conservatives who increasingly form a cult of personality around Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — can pretend not to see it.”

Though McConnell did not call out Donald Trump by name, the former president and many of his Republican allies have praised the autocratic Hungarian leader, especially for his stances against immigration and attacks on LGBTQ+ and abortion rights.

The former president has met with the Hungarian leader multiple times, most recently at Mar-a-Lago this summer. During the debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month, Trump praised Orbán as “one of the most respected men” and a “strong man.”

McConnell reprimanded the NATO member on Wednesday for its relationships with China, Russia and Iran. China was Hungary’s single biggest investor in 2023 and Hungary borrowed $1 billion from Chinese banks last spring, POLITICO previously reported.

“Hungary’s leaders aren’t cozying up to Moscow, Beijing and Tehran in private. They’re doing it publicly and vocally as well,” said McConnell.

The minority leader added that Orbán “doesn’t just admire” Russian President Vladimir Putin — “He helps him. His government runs interference for Moscow, gumming up European and transatlantic efforts to combat Russia’s unlawful aggression at every turn.”

Hungary has previously refused to help Ukraine in its war with Russia, including blocking funding for military aid from the European Union for the country earlier this year.

The Senate minority leader also called out Hungary’s relationship with Iran: “I have little sympathy for Hungarian companies that struggle to profit from their ties to the genocidal regime in Tehran. Of course, that hasn’t stopped Hungarian firms from committing tens of millions of dollars to financing joint nuclear projects with Iran.”

Orbán and other Hungarian leaders are “betting” on America’s failure and weakness, McConnell argued.

“There’s nothing tough about bowing to autocrats,” he said. “And there’s nothing for America’s leaders to gain by praising those who do.”