CPAC's May meeting to be held in Hungary with Viktor Orban headlining as keynote speaker

[essentialsaltes]

The May meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is seen by some Republicans as a test of how closely American conservatives are willing align themselves with a global movement of far-right, Russia-friendly strongmen embraced by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The event’s keynote speaker is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The European Union has accused Orban, who won re-election by a large margin on Sunday, of curbing media and judicial independence, enriching associates with public funds and recasting election laws to entrench his power.

Last fall, a similar CPAC-branded meeting was held in Brazil, spotlighting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader and Putin admirer.

 

[Occams Barber]

The May meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is seen by some Republicans as a test of how closely American conservatives are willing align themselves with a global movement of far-right, Russia-friendly strongmen embraced by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The event’s keynote speaker is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The European Union has accused Orban, who won re-election by a large margin on Sunday, of curbing media and judicial independence, enriching associates with public funds and recasting election laws to entrench his power.

Last fall, a similar CPAC-branded meeting was held in Brazil, spotlighting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader and Putin admirer.

I have trouble deciding if Republican flirtation with the pro Russian international far right is indicative of America's slide towards right wing authoritarianism or a simple case of political naivete.

OB

 

[NxNW]

I have trouble deciding if Republican flirtation with the pro Russian international far right is indicative of America's slide towards right wing authoritarianism or a simple case of political naivete.
OB

A wise man once pointed out that it's a fine line between clever and stupid.

 

[Fantine]

It is hard to tell how much of the devotion to sociopathic authoritarian dictators among Republican legislators is real or how much is trying to stay under the radar with Trump.

Obviously we know there are a few who sincerely hold these profoundly disturbing and immoral views, but a lot are just trying to stay under the radar.

Case in point. My state's senior senator is running for reelection and his commercials read as if they were produced by Paul Gosar and directed by MTG. We have contacted his office telling him that he is better than that. He was trying to stay under the radar by abandoning all his principles and integrity.

He has a primary opponent who unfortunately was a college football star who sounds like he would be a perfect fit for those parties Cawthorn alleges he's invited to. Primary opponent discovers fundamentally decent conservative senator has spoken out against 1/6 and makes a big to-do about it hoping that Trump will withdraw his support of the fundamentally decent guy and support him instead.

Sad to say, Trump probably will. He doesn't tolerate people who tell the truth about the election results and 1/6 well.

So that will be CPAC in Hungary. The crazies will show up in force. The ones who need to stay under the radar will stay home unless they're up for reelection soon.

 

[essentialsaltes]

At U.S. right-wing gathering in Hungary, Orban decries migration, praises Tucker Carlson

Now in power for 12 years, Orban has generated controversy in the European Union over his rolling back of democratic institutions under what he calls an “illiberal democracy,” but garnered the admiration of some segments of the American right for his tough stance on immigration and LGBTQ issues and his rejection of liberal pluralism.

 

[wing2000]

I have trouble deciding if Republican flirtation with the pro Russian international far right is indicative of America's slide towards right wing authoritarianism or a simple case of political naivete.

OB

I have no doubt it is the former. It's increasingly clear to me that many Americans no longer want to live in a pluralistic society where white people are the minority.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal [as long as certain men are in control], that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

 

[essentialsaltes]

Besides VICE News, journalists from Rolling Stone, Vox Media, and the New Yorker were turned away from the conference on Thursday, despite repeated assurances from the American Conservative Union that access would be provided. Journalists from other non-Hungarian media outlets, including the Guardian and Associated Press, tweeted that they had also been denied accreditation, despite months of requests.

The denial of access to the conference will once again raise one of the main criticisms of Hungary’s authoritarian leader, Viktor Orbán, who has spent much of his 12-year reign crushing any independent media in the country.

Dan Schneider, the executive director of the American Conservative Union, which runs CPAC, said in an interview outside the conference that the ACU was only a “co-host” of the event.

“We do these CPACs around the world and we always have partners on the ground who take the lead, and those partners are the ones who make the decisions, so those are the decisions of the Center for Fundamental Rights.”

The Center for Fundamental Rights is a right-wing think tank funded by the Hungarian government.

Schneider then repeated the line the CFR had rolled out when asked about access to the conference: “They’ve provided a link so anybody in the press can watch the entire program live so they can cover it.”

 

[wing2000]

"All of the international democracy rating agencies agree that Hungary is no longer a democracy. And the U.S. hasn't had a president (Trump) be best buddies with a dictator before," Scheppele says [
Princeton sociologist Kim Scheppele]

Right now, both American conservatism and Hungarian politics are driven by cultural issues — like immigration, gender identity and abortion. And Scheppele says in Hungary, the culture wars are on the surface while the push for autocracy is just below.

Orban has packed the courts – and the press in Hungary is also controlled by Orban loyalists. That's something Schlapp dismisses by attacking the U.S. mainstream media.
Here's why American conservatives are heading to Hungary for a big conference

Sound familiar?

 

[JustOneWay]

Why do they waste money doing this in Hungary? What's wrong with doing it in America?

Looks like globalization from the republicans.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Hungarian journalist who called Jews ‘stinking excrement’ addresses CPAC conference

A Hungarian journalist known for making antisemitic and racist comments was a featured speaker at a Friday gathering in the Hungarian capital Budapest of prominent conservatives from the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

Zsolt Bayer, who according to The Guardian has called Jews “stinking excrement,” referred to Roma as “animals” and used racial epithets to describe Black people, took the stage on the second day of the American Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, as it was held in Europe for the first time.

Bayer is a co-founder of the ruling Fidesz party and is said to be close to Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the star speaker at CPAC.

 

[Tom 1]

I have trouble deciding if Republican flirtation with the pro Russian international far right is indicative of America's slide towards right wing authoritarianism or a simple case of political naivete.

OB

I get what you’re saying there. Like are they really that stupid, or do they actually want jackboots on broadway?

 

[Tom 1]

Why do they waste money doing this in Hungary? What's wrong with doing it in America?

Looks like globalization from the republicans.

Gotta say Budapest is a really cool city. One of my favourite places.

 

[ottawak]

I get what you’re saying there. Like are they really that stupid, or do they actually want jackboots on broadway?

Aw, you're being mean. Those Republican fellows just wanted to hold their meeting someplace where they could relax and feel at home.

 

[KCfromNC]

I have trouble deciding if Republican flirtation with the pro Russian international far right is indicative of America's slide towards right wing authoritarianism or a simple case of political naivete.

OB

Could also be that many of them are compromised in some way :

Russia hacked Republican state campaigns but not Trump's: FBI head

Comey also told lawmakers Russia did not release information obtained from the state campaigns or the old RNC email domains, comments that may buttress the U.S. intelligence view that Moscow tried to help Trump against Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign.

U.S. intelligence agencies on Friday released an assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a covert effort to help Republican Trump’s electoral chances by discrediting Clinton.​

 

[essentialsaltes]

The event’s keynote speaker is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Orban has put on a demonstration for his CPAC buddies to learn from.

BUDAPEST, May 24 (Reuters) - Hungary's government will assume emergency powers in order to be able to respond more quickly to challenges created by the war in neighbouring Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a Facebook video on Tuesday.

The new state of emergency similarly empowers Orban's government to approve measures by decree.

 

[mark46]

The May meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is seen by some Republicans as a test of how closely American conservatives are willing align themselves with a global movement of far-right, Russia-friendly strongmen embraced by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The event’s keynote speaker is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The European Union has accused Orban, who won re-election by a large margin on Sunday, of curbing media and judicial independence, enriching associates with public funds and recasting election laws to entrench his power.

Last fall, a similar CPAC-branded meeting was held in Brazil, spotlighting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader and Putin admirer.

I'm glad that you always include clear sources. You just make this stuff up. Trumpers meet in Brazil and then Hungary. Is Belarus next? Probably not, the people don't support the government view. Perhaps Chechnya?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Orban was such a hit, he gets to speak at CPAC USA.

Viktor Orban Will Still Speak at CPAC Despite ‘Nazi’ Speech Backlash

A gathering of US conservatives in Texas next week will still include Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as a speaker despite his recent comments which prompted a long-time ally to resign from his government and compare his comments to Nazism.

In a speech over the weekend to supporters in Romania, Orban railed against a “flood” of migrants being “forced” on Hungary. He said he wanted to prevent Hungary from becoming a “mixed-race” country, adding that countries with a high level of racial mixing are no longer countries.

“Let's listen to the man speak,” Matt Schlapp, chair of CPAC, said in an interview at the America First Policy Institute summit in Washington. “We'll see what he says. And if people have a disagreement with something he says, they should raise it.”

 

[variant]

It is hard to tell how much of the devotion to sociopathic authoritarian dictators among Republican legislators is real or how much is trying to stay under the radar with Trump.

Obviously we know there are a few who sincerely hold these profoundly disturbing and immoral views, but a lot are just trying to stay under the radar.

It's not hard at all. When people tell you who they are you should listen.

Those on the right willing to support extreme right wing authoritarians are just themselves sympathetic to those ideas.

 

[durangodawood]

Transnational right wing authoritarian affinity groups. Now there's some proper globalism!

 

[essentialsaltes]

The May meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is seen by some Republicans as a test of how closely American conservatives are willing align themselves with a global movement of far-right, Russia-friendly strongmen embraced by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Hungary will again host CPAC in May 2023.

One speaker has some free time on his hands at the moment.

I'm curious about the United We Stand bit -- is that CPAC conservatives, Hungary and Russia?