Hungarians go to the polls on Sunday, and populist incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (featured bottom right) is trailing in most polls. Recently so, President Donald Trump dispatched J.D. Vance to Budapest to give the Hungarian prime minister a ringing endorsement.
As the BBC reports, the veteran prime minister is a key European ally of the Trump administration, but after winning four elections in a row since 2010, Orbán faces the toughest challenge in his political career.
Speaking at an Orbán rally, Vance said, "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 should not be listened to."
According to The Guardian, Vance denies that the U.S. is interfering with Hungarian politics, while admitting that it is unprecedented for a U.S. vice president to show up before an election. He also acknowledges how Orbán is behind in the polls, so he showed up to acknowledge the good work of Orbán and his government, calling them “important partners for peace.”
Retired Navy Commander Kirk Lippold is a national defense analyst and adjunct professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. He thinks the V.P.'s visit was completely inappropriate.
"What is Vance doing over in Hungary, supporting a candidate and getting a video conference with President Trump to a bunch of Orbán supporters over there?” Lippold questions. “Talk about hypocritical and inappropriate in interfering with another country's election. We have no business doing that."
Lippold explains what the reaction would be if the situation was reversed
"How do you think the GOP would feel if the president of Germany or France or U.K. came to this nation and began to campaign for Gavin Newsom running for president? They'd be livid!” Lippold states. “They'd be screaming that it was inappropriate, and yet here we are going to Hungary and doing that."
