1. The sad thing about Trump's endorsement of Orban is how unsurprising it is. In my book After the Fall, I start with the parallels between the GOP and Orban because we aren't headed for a Hungary model - we are almost there. This has been Orban's playbook: 
2. It's worth remembering that this GOP playbook long predated Trump and really became the Party's defining project in the Obama years.
3. This remains true: "Orbán has shown that after winning an election, a leader and his party can dismantle democracy while offering the public a constant cocktail of nationalism and hatred. That, I fear, is what a second Trump term will yield." theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
4. In addition to trashing democracy, another awkward reality for GOP hawks / Trump sycophants like Rubio, Cruz, Lindsey Grahm, etc is that Orban has aggressively courted Russia and increasingly China.
5. Orban made this argument explicitly in 2014, wrapping affinity for Russia and China in ideological and practical terms. Trump just says out loud what the GOP has long accepted: they prefer autocracy to liberal democracy.
6. Despite his anti-Semitism, Orban has also made common cause with Bibi Netanyahu - replicating his attacks on NGOs while taking advantage of the export of private intelligence services to surveil and bully opponents.
7. The key point is that Orban is part of an eco-system of nationalist, authoritarian leaders who learn from one another and increasingly coordinate with one another - that's why this matters so much. People like Trump, Putin, Netanyahu, Bolsonaro, MBZ, Modi, Salvini, etc, etc.
8. In Missing America, Sandor Lederer speaks to the centrality of nationalism: "I think our prime minister is a door opener of how you exploit these tendencies in politics. I think a lot of leaders in the region...and other places...learn from him." crooked.com/podcast/2-nati…
9. The good news...there is a vibrant, determined, and united Hungarian opposition of political parties and civil society. They deserve (and need) our support and solidarity as much as the nationalist authoritarians have each other's back.
10. Just read these words from @katka_cseh - everyone who cares about democracy around the world should care about the Hungarian election.
https://twitter.com/katka_cseh/status/1476996131896893443?s=20
11. And follow Hungarian journalists like @panyiszabolcs who have been undaunted and dogged in exposing Orban's corruption and autocracy.
12. The GOP has been telling us who they are for a long time. We've reached the phase where they endorse autocrats like Orban and overthrowing American democracy. If we fail to meet this threat, it could be the end of democracy - in this country, and around the globe.
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