Vice President JD Vance brought his enthusiastic endorsement, a phone call to President Donald Trump, and a story of a familiar freedom fighter to a campaign rally on April 7 for Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban in what is expected to be the fight of his political life. In the April 12 election, polls are predicting his opposition, Peter Magyar, formerly a supporter of Orban’s Fidesz party, will win in the high-stakes contest that challenges Orban’s 16-year run as prime minister.
Vance brought the receipts to build his case to stand for Hungary’s sovereignty, Christian values, and Western civilization, rejecting the Brussels bureaucrats he blasted. It was a scathing rebuke reminiscent of his scolding of European leaders at the Munich Security Conference last year for restricting free speech, prosecuting Christian prayer, and ignoring their people.
Orban and Trump share many of the same qualities and policies. When the European Union wanted to force migration on Hungary, Orban said, “No.” When Vance called Trump, to the audience’s cheers, the president reminded them:
“You have a man that kept your country strong and he kept your country good and you don’t have problems with all of the problems that so many other countries have because they let their countries be invaded and you don’t have that problem because of Victor Orban. That’s the only reason you don’t have that problem. There was a lot of pressure on him to do it and those other countries made big mistakes. So, I wish you a lot of luck and I love you all.”
Taking that cue, Vance lauded the country’s Christian compassion for its neighbors and compatriots:
“When a war erupted in your neighborhood, you were kind and generous. You opened your neighborhoods, your homes, and your hospitals. But you never forgot the needs of your own people. And why, to Hungary, Hungarians must always come first. And for all these reasons, the president of the United States, the vice president of the United States, and the American people, we admire you and we want you to make a decision about your future with no outside forces pressuring you or telling you what to do …Listen to your hearts, listen to your souls, and listen to the sovereignty of the Hungarian people.”
Orban Embrace of Hungarian Sovereignty
Vance drew comparisons between the United States and Hungary in their shared threat from far-left ideology in academia, media, entertainment, and bureaucracy. The vice president litigated the stark contrast between Hungary’s Western civilization and the European Union bureaucrats’ globalist policies, bringing into focus what is at stake in the election they will decide:
“In Western history, they don’t see a proud tradition. They see only injustice. In our borders, they see exclusion and racism. In Christianity, they see not liberation but oppression. And in the family, they see constraint. Their most radical members, of course, tear down monuments to our national heroes or throw buckets of fake blood on precious artworks and museums. They stage assassinations of law enforcement officers. They set fire to churches. They declare they’re never going to have kids lest they increase their carbon footprint.”
In his 35-minute speech, the vice president touched on both countries’ commitment to border and energy security. Vance said he saw Orban as “a trading partner who will bring in record investment” to Hungary from the United States, adding, “We’ve invested more in Hungary than we ever have in our history.”
The vice president praised Hungary’s clean streets, “where people of different faiths and tourists of all nationalities can enjoy a drink or a nice walk in safety and security.” Vance listed government policies that aligned with the Trump administration: investment in its citizenry, promotion of families, job creation, and “building an education system that teaches love of country rather than hatred of civilization.” Hungary, the vice president said, has some of the lowest energy costs in Europe because Orban fought for it.
Familiar with the Trump Derangement Syndrome of the American left, Vance drew another comparison between the two leaders: “They hate one man above all others, and his name is Victor Orban. And if they hate him, it means he’s on your side.”
Hungary’s Freedom Fighter
Vance challenged the crowd to renew and defend the Western civilization that flows from their Christian faith, reminded them of their communist history, and articulated the globalist agenda.
“They look at the very idea of a nation and ask how we can get rid of them?” Vance said. “Every position, I believe, flows from this fundamental error. They reject mothers and motherhood, fathers and fatherhood in the name of liberation. They condemn children to mutilation and sterilization in the name of gender care. And they practice institutional murder in the name of ‘end-of-life planning.’ And if you dare speak up about it, they will fight using the modern tools of social media to silence you through censorship.”
In a prophetic coincidence, Vance told the story of Lajos (Louis) Kossuth, the hero of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution and the father of Hungarian democracy. Kossuth was the second foreigner in US history — after General Marquis de Lafayette in 1824 — to address a joint meeting of Congress in 1852. But it was in Cincinnati, the vice president’s hometown, Vance said, that Kossuth received the biggest reception during his time in young America. He came “to make his case for Hungarian independence.”
“This guy was a prophet,” Vance said. “Kossuth called this the cornerstone of independence, the cornerstone of sovereignty on the European continent. And though he didn’t live to see it become so, I declare that prophecy is true today in 2026.”
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