Dreher wants you to know that his real hero, Viktor Orban, is nothing like Putin. Is he right?
Let’s look at the record. Orban maintains a stranglehold on power in Hungary by: ferociously gerrymandering legislative districts; buying or otherwise controlling the news media; using law enforcement and the judiciary against his opponents; doling out goodies from the EU to his supporters; and posing as the defender of traditional Christian values against LGBTQ people, secular humanists, Jews, and Muslim immigrants. Is this ringing any bells?
Admittedly, Orban hasn’t poisoned his most conspicuous opponents, shut down the internet, or invaded any of his neighbors yet. That’s because Hungary is a small, poor country which needs EU money and lacks a strong military. Whether it is due in any way to a lack of inclination is unknowable under the circumstances.