The former Republican president welcomed Orban to the White House in 2019, in a symbolic meeting for the prime minister who has a complicated relationship with the European Union and has been snubbed by both President Joe Biden and Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama.
Senior officials in the Trump administration then claimed the goal was to keep a leader who appeared to be testing the waters with Russia in the Western fold, and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted on meeting with anti-Orban activists during a visit to Budapest.
Orban has been hailed by both the Trump wing of the Republican Party and far-right European leaders like Marine Le Pen in France, especially for his refusal to accept refugees.
The Hungarian leader hopes to garner electoral support with his opposition to LGBTQ rights, prohibiting the “promotion and exhibition” of homosexuality, and with a referendum on a law that affects this community scheduled for the day of the elections.
Orban, in office since 2010, will face primarily Peter Marki-Zay at the polls, who describes himself as a traditional Catholic conservative who has vowed to scrap homophobic laws if elected.