Vice-presidential candidates split on Hungary's Orban
The approach of U.S. vice-presidential candidates to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban reveals a contrast in their worldviews, wrote Politico on Wednesday. While Democrat candidate Tim Walz called Orban a dictator, Republican J.D. Vance considered him a role model.
Democratic Party candidate for U.S. President Kamala Harris introduced the vice-presidential candidate on Tuesday. He is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. On the other hand, the Republican Party candidate is former financier and bestselling memoir author "Hillbilly Elegy" J.D. Vance, whom presidential candidate Donald Trump nominated on July 15.
Politico on Wednesday compared the views of both candidates on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and recalled that in an interview on Fox News, Walz described him as a dictator.
- The best solution is foreign policy that respects our alliances and is not favourable to dictators like Putin and Orban - said Walz in an interview broadcast two weeks before receiving the nomination.
Democrats take aim at Orban
Politico noted that the Minnesota governor criticized Orban more harshly than Joe Biden. The sitting president said in March that Orban is "seeking dictatorship". "Biden's statement caused outrage in the Hungarian government, which seeks to continually strengthen relations with Republicans, especially with their vice-presidential candidate Vance," Politico noted.
Meanwhile, Vance spoke highly of Orban, praising his approach to education and combating so-called wokism (sensitivity to discrimination and prejudice). In September last year, Vance suggested in a podcast that the United States should follow Hungary's lead and ban funding for universities that teach gender theories or critical race theory (studies on the position of Black people in U.S. society).
Politico added that Vance defended Orban regarding his close relations with China, which Trump sees as a threat to the United States' position in the world. According to the Republican vice-presidential candidate, Hungary is getting closer to China partly because the U.S. is unable to make the right decisions in its relations with Beijing.
Orban is the only head of government in Europe openly expressing support for Trump. The article recalled that, according to Orban, his advisers were involved in writing the Republican candidate's program.
