BUDAPEST, Hungary — Vice President JD Vance arrived in Hungary insisting, again and again, that he wasn’t there to tell people how to vote in their looming election.
That message didn’t survive the barnstorming finale of his Budapest speech late Tuesday. In the packed atmosphere of MTK Sportpark arena—where the crowd stood, cheered, and whooped so loudly it seemed to bounce off the city air—Vance urged Hungarians to head to the polls and back Viktor Orbán.
“Will you stand for sovereignty and democracy, for truth and for the God of our forefathers?” he asked, then pivoted to the weekend vote. “Then, my friends, go to the polls this weekend, stand with Viktor Orbán, because he stands for you, and he stands for all these things.” The timing mattered: Orbán, a Hungarian prime minister and a frequent MAGA ally, is trailing in the polls days before Sunday’s nationwide election.
Vance flew to Hungary ostensibly to celebrate a “Hungarian-American friendship day.” But on the ground, he was the star attraction at a rally for a campaign that already looks tense enough on its own. Orbán’s challenger is Peter Magyar, once part of Orbán’s Fidesz party, who now accuses him of rampant corruption. If polls are accurate, Magyar’s Tisza party is poised to assume power in the parliamentary vote.
The visit also landed in the middle of broader European frictions, after Vance took a break from talks to end the Iran war. He said the U.S. would work with whoever wins before joking that he knew Orbán would prevail anyway. He also accused the European Union of “foreign election interference,” pointing to the E.U.’s freezing of billions of euros in funding over Hungary’s democratic backsliding.
Misryoum newsroom reported that some observers saw the contradiction clearly. “He is so openly campaigning for Orbán at this point that it cannot be seen as a regular state visit,” said Samuel Barczy, 27, a protester outside Vance’s speech. Barczy also said there weren’t many demonstrators, “but that’s because not many Hungarians know who Vance is.” Near the neoclassical Sandor Palace—where earlier news conferences took place—there was a feeling of a carefully timed moment, like everyone was trying to read the same headline from different angles.
A European Union spokesman, Thomas Regnier, responded by saying in a statement that “in Europe, elections are the sole choice of the citizens.” Vance’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Wednesday, Vance defended himself against allegations of foreign interference at an event in Budapest, saying “Foreign influence is when other governments threaten, cajole and try to use economic influence to tell you how to vote,” and that “Whether you like Viktor Orbán or not… that is fundamentally an assault on your sovereignty.”
The broader context is familiar in Hungary now, where Orbán’s politics are often treated as a test case for Europe’s internal unity. An Orbán video this year showed endorsements from figures including Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Argentina’s Javier Milei and France’s Marine le Pen. Orbán has also claimed “deep involvement” in crafting President Donald Trump’s message and political strategy, even as he leans into a far-right identity—railing against immigration, Muslims, the LGBTQ community and green policies, and framing his administration as an “illiberal democracy.”
The E.U. and many independent scholars say Hungary has gone further, describing the country as an “elective autocracy,” with curbs on judicial independence and press freedom, and saying Hungary is ranked as the most corrupt in Europe. Orbán and his supporters reject that, citing a close electoral race and dismissing outside criticism as an attempt to interfere. He told the crowd Tuesday, “I recommend everyone keep their hands off Hungary.”
He also framed the election in apocalyptic terms, calling on “freedom-loving Americans and Hungarians” to “unite and save Western civilization.” He announced Hungary would launch a “reconquista” of European institutions. If Fidesz and Orbán lose—or if they fail to retain enough room to maneuver—the consequences could be sharp. Misryoum editorial desk noted that the Atlantic Council think tank said in a briefing Monday that if Magyar’s party gets a two-thirds supermajority, it could launch “investigations into the Orbán government’s corruption,” and that Orbán would likely respond defiantly and push for a recount, echoing Trump’s false claims about the 2020 U.S. election.
Yet even with the drama of Vance’s appearance, Misryoum analysis indicates it may not shift the final outcome. Gábor Halmai, an emeritus professor at Hungary’s Eötvös Loránd University, said there was no guarantee Vance’s arrival would help Orbán and that it could even hinder him. Trump polls higher in Hungary than in many other countries, but even here, he remains divisive: 46% of people have little or no confidence in him, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center in June.
Inside the arena, supporters didn’t seem to mind the political math. Peter Kintsly, 67, an entrepreneur from Budapest, told Misryoum that “It meant so much that he spoke for so long,” and that the speech “was not a propaganda speech.” Vance talked about the Hungarian fight against Soviet rule, including the failed, bloody revolution of 1956, and invoked King Saint Stephen, who ruled from 997 to 1001. Kintsly said Vance “clearly knew what he was talking about.”
Vance’s speech itself moved between old history and new grievances, even starting by calling Trump and putting him on speakerphone. Trump told the crowd, “I love that Viktor,” and said Orbán “didn’t allow people to storm your country and invade your country like other people have ruined their countries.” Then, over roughly 40 minutes, Vance wove a story that put Washington and Budapest at the center of a worldwide “revolution” against liberal elites. He said he saw leaders sneer at “normal God-fearing people of Hungary,” and that those who hate Europe and its Christian heritage “hate one man above all others, and his name is Viktor Orbán.”
He also criticized “far-left ideology” and described a shared threat “from within,” while calling Orbán “one of the only true statesmen in Europe,” a remark that will likely be heard in London, Berlin and Paris. “The president loves you,” Vance told him.
And still—right when the cheers were loudest—it was hard not to notice the looping irony: Vance, who said he wasn’t trying to direct votes, ended up directing attention as hard as he could toward the person he most wanted to see win, in a campaign whose politics are already tightly wound. Whether that energy translates into votes, well… Hungarian politics have a way of making predictions feel a little too neat.
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