Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance lauded Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s crackdown on higher education and defended the controversial leader in Budapest amid bipartisan criticism in the US.
“I don’t know everything he’s ever done,” Vance told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “On the university principle, the idea that taxpayers should have some influence in how their money is spent on these universities — it’s a totally reasonable thing.
In February, Vance suggested Orban’s crackdown on campuses was “closest conservatives have ever gotten to successfully dealing with the left-wing domination of universities.”
Moderator Margaret Brennan noted that Orban “seized control of state universities and put them in foundations that were then run by his allies.”
Vance, who has cultivated the populist movement within the GOP, countered that universities in the US are “controlled by left-wing foundations” rather than the taxpayers.
“They’re not educating our children well, and they’re layering the next generation down in mountains of student debt, then they’re not meeting their end of the bargain,” he argued.
Brennan then rattled through other grievances that top pols in the US have levied toward the NATO ally recounting how he “rewrote” the constitution, “neutered the courts,” and “tried to control the media.”
“I’m not endorsing every single thing that Viktor Orban has ever done. I don’t know everything he’s ever done,” Vance replied reiterating that he was merely pointing out the prime minister’s education reform.
Obran has garnered some fanfare among pro-Trump conservatives, having enjoyed heavy praise from Tucker Carlson and a meeting with former President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago earlier this year.
Still, others in the conservative movement have blasted Orban as authoritarian and condemned Budapest’s stalling of Sweden’s ascension into NATO, which ultimately went through in March.
Last week, for example, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) railed against Orban.
“This isn’t where America should be taking our foreign policy cues,” McConnell said. “Hungary stands at the crossroads of three powers bent on undermining our security and prosperity. And the Orban government is modeling what not to do in the face of these challenges.”
In particular, McConnell took issue with Orban courting relations with China. But Vance laid the blame on weak leadership in Washington.
“Why is Viktor Orban getting closer to China? In part because American leadership is not making smart decisions,” Vance contended.
“We are pushing other nations into the arms of the Chinese because we don’t make enough stuff because we pursue a ridiculous foreign policy very often. We have to be more self-reliant.”
