Viktor Orban Has Gone From Outlier to Precursor

It’s perhaps a sign of the times that a visit to Hungary by an American television personality known for his provocations on race and immigration has generated international news coverage. But the visit by Tucker Carlson—whose Fox News program has become a clearinghouse of far-right talking points, and misinformation, in the U.S.—has highlighted the ways in which Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s brand of “illiberal democracy” has not only gone mainstream in Europe, but has also become increasingly attractive to the Trump-era Republican Party in the United States. …