The New York Times: Trump to follow in Orbán’s footsteps
In a recent opinion piece, The New York Times journalist Paul Krugman warns readers that if re-elected, Donald Trump is likely to follow in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s footsteps by dismantling democracy in the U.S.
The article titled “Donald Trump Is No Richard Nixon” was published in The New York Times on 4 June 2020. In the beginning, Krugman contrasts Trump’s presidency with that of Richard Nixon and explains the vast differences between the two leaders. Then, Krugman goes on to claim that if Trump is re-elected, the United States can easily follow in Hungary’s footsteps in becoming a democracy only on paper but an authoritarian country in reality.
Read alsoThe Guardian: Viktor Orbán is dismantling democracy
Krugman writes:
“At this point it’s alarmingly easy to see how the United States could follow the path already taken by Hungary, becoming a democracy on paper but an authoritarian one-party state in practice. And I’m not talking about the distant future: It could happen this year, if Trump wins re-election — or even, potentially, if he loses but refuses to accept the results.”
Krugman also states that Trump is able to threaten democracy partly because he has so many enablers. Trump and Orbán do seem to use similar tactics and have a similar base. Krugman mentions that Trump’s base “gets its information from Fox and Facebook and basically lives in an alternate reality,” which is almost identical to Orbán’s base who watch nothing but government-owned M1.
Krugman has drawn a comparison between Trump and Orbán before. In a 2019 article titled “Why Isn’t Trump a Real Populist?“, he actually predicted the same thing he is claiming now. Krugman wrote that both Trump and Orbán “gained power by exploiting white resentment against immigrants and global elites.”
“There are indeed strong and scary parallels: Orban has effectively turned Hungary into an authoritarian state, retaining the forms of democracy but rigging the system in such a way that his party has a permanent lock on power. It’s alarmingly easy to envision the U.S. going the same way, and very soon: If Trump is re-elected next year, that could mark the end of America’s democratic experiment.”
Source: www.nytimes.com
Orbán and Trump also have their wive’s Hungarian Heritage in common! Melania is Slovenian and Slovenia was part of Hungary before the Trianon Treaty after WWI.
Krugman is right. However, when it comes to the currently fast-spreading virus of autocracy, I believe that the U.S. have much stronger anticorps than Hungary or any other East European country.
Krugman has not been right about anything. He is the worst predictor of the future….especially about Trump.
It is evident that Krugman belongs to Clinton’s club by calling Orban a dictator as they did.
What does Krugman know about Hungarian history, probably zilch? How does he explain Orban’s party 2/3 majority thee times one after the other?
Where else, or which other PM or President can claim that outstanding majority around the world?
The voters in Hungary are making sure they are keeping the incompetent socialist out for the good and benefit of Hungary which of course plays a vital role in Orban’s continuous victory as well as the nationalistic emphasis what the people of Hungary likes.
To understand that, you need to know Hungary’s past, especially WW1 disastrous Trianon peace treaty concerning Hungary.
Considering all the above Orban will be there for a long long time.
Krugman wrote that both Trump and Orbán “gained power by exploiting white resentment against immigrants and global elites”
Krugman is wrong! Trump and Orban are against ILLEGAL immigration, not legal immigration. The left will not distinguish between the two types of immigration. And if we look at countries with a high number of ILLEGAL immigrants (Sweden, France Belgium and Germany for example) evidence clearly shows a huge rise in crime such as rape, bombing and stealing directly from those immigrants. Trump and Orban have merely pointed this out to voters and promised to apply the laws already on the statute book. Voters want a stable country. Can anyone seriously say that Sweden or France are now stable countries???
Krugman mentions that Mt. Trump only watches Fox. Why should he watch others broadcasting fake news?
Mr. Orban and Mr. Trump are nationalists, what better presidents would any country want?
Krugman is not a neutral reporter but a mouth piece for the leftist socialist democrats.
Mario has conveniently neglected to mention that BENITO MUSSOLINI – known as ‘IL DUCE’ from 1919 until his execution in 1945 – invented ‘fascism’ and was the first ‘autocrat’ of the 20th Century.
He inspired far-right totalitarian rulers including Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco.
Like Mario, Mussolini was ITALIAN.
But perhaps some things are best not discussed, eh Mario ?
“gained power by”. Love it…I voted for Trump because I disliked that old bat HIllary more than I disliked Trump…and here we go again! Which Poison will I choose? Trump or BIden? I read about European elections, and it seems like there are plenty of candidates to choose from! We get two. Poison from a gold glass, or poison from a silver glass? How wonderful. Pppffftt