I can only conclude that Viktor Orban must secretly be hoping to lose the election on April 12th. Certainly, no one who really wants to succeed would invite JD Vance to support his campaign.

But that is precisely what Orban has done. For 16 years, he has served as Hungary’s Prime Minister, positioning himself between his good friend Vladimir Putin to the east, and his supposed ally to the west, Donald Trump. But this year, after four consecutive victories, Orban is trailing his principal opponent Peter Magyar in the polls, and appears likely to suffer a resounding defeat in his fifth round.

Putin has been attempting to sway the Hungarian vote in Orban’s direction, bombarding the country with political propaganda and his usual grab bag of dirty tricks, but to little or no avail.

And now, in a pathetic attempt to help his autocratic pal retain his position, Trump has sent JD Vance — hardly America’s best-loved ambassador of good will — to add his support.

Appearing with Orban, Vance said that he had come to Budapest “to help him in this campaign cycle” . . . and then immediately added that the U.S. would “work with whoever wins this election.” [Paul Kirby and Nick Thorpe, BBC, April 7, 2026.]

Wow! That is some ringing endorsement!

To further impress the electorate, Vance launched into a diatribe against the European Union — of which Hungary is a member — accusing the EU of conducting “one of the worst examples of foreign election interference that I have ever seen or ever even read about . . . because they hate this guy.” He then added that “part of the reason” for his visit was because “interference that’s come from the bureaucracy in Brussels has been truly disgraceful.” [Id.]

(Of course, Vance managed to omit mentioning that the reason the EU “hates” Orban might have something to do with the fact that Hungary’s envoy to the EU has been discovered feeding confidential information from their closed meetings directly to Moscow. But why bother with such details?)

In a glowing example of double-speak, Vance spoke later at an Orban campaign rally, offering this:

“We want you to make a decision about your future with no outside forces pressuring you or telling you what to do. I’m not telling you exactly who to vote for but what I am telling you is that the bureaucrats in Brussels, those people [the EU] should not be listened to.” [Id.]

And — while he wasn’t telling them “exactly who to vote for” — he closed with this:

“ … go to the polls in the weekend, stand with Viktor Orban, because he stands for you.” [Id.]

Yeah . . . that’s “not telling them,” JD!

*. *. *

Now, I’m not a politician — never have been, never wanted to be. But I do know one thing: If I were ever to run for any office, no matter how insignificant, the very last person I would want on my team would be . . .

Yup . . . that’s the one.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/7/26