He wore a similar dark suit, a white shirt and a plain tie, albeit orange rather than Trump’s signature red. He gave the same thumbs up as Trump as they posed for photos.
But regardless of the reception he’s getting from CPAC audiences in Dallas, the situation at home is showing cracks.
Orban has since said he is neither a racist nor an anti-Semite, but his speech about racial purity set off alarm bells in his capital, Budapest, where Jews were persecuted and murdered during World War II.
Rabbi Robert Frolich of the city’s historic Dohany Street Synagogue said Orban’s words hit too close to home, especially for the older members of his congregation.
“Most of them are Holocaust survivors,” he told CNN. “They’re worried. They’ve heard this before and it didn’t end well.”
His economic policies have won him support, but with rising inflation that is starting to change, according to economist Zoltan Pogatsa.
“Longer term, yes, I think Orban remains popular, but right now I think more people are skeptical of him than ever before,” he said.
In Budapest’s central market, opinions vary.
David Horvath, a juice seller, says: “To be honest, Viktor Orban is not even appreciated in our own country.”
But Margaretta Krajnik, a butcher, begs to disagree. “Viktor Orban does everything for his people,” she said. “He loves his people.”
Here, it is a shared decision. In Dallas, the reception from American conservatives was perhaps more enthusiastic.
cnn Eur
