Increasingly among the far-right crowd, “Make America Great Again” means turning our country into a facsimile of Orban’s Hungary. How would Trump or DeSantis go about doing it?
The key elements of the Orban regime are:
- Extreme gerrymandering;
- Using public funds to reward key supporters;
- Politicizing law enforcement, vote counting, and the judiciary;
- Finding appropriate scapegoats for your failures; and
- Gaining effective control of the media, including the internet.
As to #1, the state parties and the Constitution itself have already accomplished as much as can be done. On #2, Trump has already shown the way with his tariff regime. #3 has already been partially accomplished, thanks mostly to Mitch McConnell; you only have to pick the right law enforcement people to finish the job. Liberals, foreigners, and illegal immigrants make great scapegoats. But what about the media?
Musk’s acquisition of Twitter is right out of the Orban playbook. Gaining control of the media in America will be more difficult than it was in Hungary, given the First Amendment and the size and number of influential media companies. It can be done, however. Just use the regulatory tools at hand to harass your opponents unmercifully, persuade the Supreme Court to loosen the standards for libel cases, and get your plutocrat friends to buy the companies at a discount. Once that is accomplished, your position will be unassailable.