On Saturday night, Donald #Trump spoke at an event co-organized by #Hungary and the New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC).
Republican Congressman Paul #Gosar told Hungarian media that the Young Republican Club is a powerful example of how young generations can contribute to politics. “It is important to know how young people think, because they are the future,” he said, praising Prime Minister Viktor #Orbán and his policies in Hungary, noting that there have been recent examples of right-wing turnarounds in other countries, such as Argentina and the Netherlands.
Republican support for Ukraine as it resists Putin’s invasion has declined in direct proportion to its romance with Orbán and his ultra-right policies and rhetoric.
When #Russia first invaded Ukraine in February 2022, aiding Kyiv was a bipartisan project. In May of that year, a $40bn Ukraine aid package sailed through the House with a vote of 368-57, and the Senate with a vote of 86 -11.
But as the war has stretched on, more Republican lawmakers have turned against aid to Ukraine, embracing Donald Trump’s “America first” approach to foreign policy.
When the House voted in September on a bill to provide $300m to train and equip Ukrainian fighters, a majority of Republicans – 117 members – opposed it.
Last Wednesday, Senate #Republicans blocked an emergency spending bill “to send funding for Ukraine, funding for Israel, humanitarian aid for innocent civilians in Gaza, and funding for the Indo-Pacific.”
Orbán’s goal is to make that opposition stick. Democrats hold 51 seats in the Senate but the procedural vote needed 60 supporters. Reminder that emergency spending bills are the result of Republican antipathy towards governing.
Need examples of how the GOP supports Orbán?
December 2022: Hungarian Ambassador Szabolcs #Takács accepted an award from the NYYRC on behalf of Orbán.
January 2023: Tucker #Carlson ran his Fox News show from Budapest; it was his second broadcast from Hungary.
May 2023: The Conservative Political Action Conference (#CPAC ) met in Budapest, Hungary.
“If Donald Trump were leading America, no war would be hitting Ukraine and Europe today. Mr. President, come back, make America great again, bring us peace,” Orbán told the CPAC crowd. “All we need to do is to write in large letters and clearly visible on the flag before the elections: 👉no migration, no gender, no war,” Orbán said, outlining priorities that would be familiar to America’s far right.
As someone shoved to the margins of the Catholic church — and content to be there — I say, when I look at men like Paul Gosar (and Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Leonard Leo, Greg Abbott, Ron DeSantis, and countless others):
The US Catholic church needs to own what it's doing to democracy via its right-wing members.
When a GOP congressman calls for the execution of an army general, that isn't just homophobia -- it is also a death threat and sedition. Lock these Republican bigoted traitors up and launch the key into orbit.