Retiring U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) responded to Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán‘s election loss this week by saying it offers a lesson for those Americans on the right drawn to Orban.
In an op-ed piece for Fox News, after Vice President JD Vance traveled to Budapest to attend a rally for Orbán, McConnell wrote:
“Watching this from Kentucky, it is hard to understand how some on the American right thought that staking U.S. influence on the outcome of a parliamentary election in a small, central European country was putting America’s interests first. To the extent that what happens in Hungary matters to America, it is a question of whether its actions on the world stage — not its social policies — align with America’s strategic interests.”
[NOTE: After the election loss, Vance said of his trip: “Viktor Orbán is a great guy who’s done a very good job…We didn’t go because we expected Viktor to cruise to an election victory. We went because it was the right thing to do.” McConnell disagrees.]
Baier: You campaigned for Viktor Orban who lost. He’s one of the only European leaders who supports Putin
Vance: Viktor Orban is a great guy who’s done a very good job…We didn’t go because we expected Viktor to cruise to an election victory. We went because it was the right… pic.twitter.com/Fhpy6bHxjA
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 13, 2026
The Kentucky Senator added: “Orbán’s champions on this side of the Atlantic may well consider his illiberal court-packing, crony capitalism or restriction of free speech an acceptable price for their desired social utopia. Yet for all the talk of reviving faith and family through statist intervention, Hungary’s religious participation and birth rates under his rule have declined right alongside the rest of the West.”
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, responded to McConnell’s article by writing: “TRANSLATION: 7-term Republican Senator celebrates Hungary becoming a vassal state of the EU. A lot of swamp left to be drained in Washington.”
TRANSLATION: 7-term Republican Senator celebrates Hungary becoming a vassal state of the EU.
A lot of swamp left to be drained in Washington. https://t.co/Eg5HeT9mve
— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) April 13, 2026
U.S. Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) responded to Roberts’ post: “How about we let Hungarians decide and respect the election results.”
Joel Griffith, one of several conservatives who recently left the Heritage Foundation to join former Vice President Mike Pence‘s Advancing American Freedom think tank, replied to his former boss: “The Orbán regime aligned with Iran, Turkey, Putin, and the CCP. Thankful Hungary has chosen another path!”
The Orban regime aligned with Iran, Turkey, Putin, and the CCP. Thankful Hungary has chosen another path! pic.twitter.com/071YApenzH
— Joel Griffith (@joelgriffith) April 14, 2026
Vance Ginn, who served as chief economist of the first Trump White House’s Office of Management and Budget, also responded to Roberts: “A better approach than trying to dunk on an octogenarian would be to acknowledge the failures of Orban’s policies to help families in Hungary and reject them here.”
Juho Romakkaniemi, CEO of Finland Chamber of Commerce, also responded to Roberts: “Excuse me, sir. Unfortunately you don’t seem to understand what you are talking about. Hungary was a corrupt slave state of Russia. Now it took its sovereignty back. Being a Member of the EU is not ’being a vassal’, but being a part of something bigger – for not to be bullied.”