Former President Donald Trump has heaped praise on the “leader of Turkey” despite actually talking about the prime minister of Hungary.
Trump was referring to Viktor Orbán, the far-right leader of Hungary, when he said in a campaign speech in New Hampshire yesterday: “There’s a man, Viktor Orbán, did anyone ever hear of him?”
He continued: “He’s probably, like, one of the strongest leaders anywhere in the world. He’s the leader of Turkey.” Orbán has been prime minister twice, originally from 1998-2002 and again since 2010 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the leader of Turkey.
Trump also claimed Orbán has a “front” with Russia, but neither Hungary nor Turkey borders Russia.
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Orbán’s leadership style has been condemned by a number of rights groups and he himself describes it as an “illiberal democracy.” He has urged Trump, currently facing a raft of legal problems, to come back to the presidency to “Make America great again and bring us peace,” according to reports of a meeting with the US Conservative Political Action Coalition.
In July this year, Hungary was found to have breached Article 3 of the European Court of Human Rights, which prohibits the torture and inhumane and degrading treatment after an incident in 2014. According, the the NGO Human Rights Watch, media freedom in the country is also at a low ebb.
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“Most media outlets remain directly or indirectly controlled by the government, creating a hostile climate for independent journalism,” HRW said. “Journalists and media outlets critical of the government continued to be harassed and smeared in government-aligned media and by government officials.”Further criticisms of the ultra-conservative Hungarian government are directed at women’s and LGBTQ+ rights.
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Rights group Amnesty International said in a 2022 report that “women’s sexual and reproductive rights suffered significant rollback.” Orbán himself has claimed he is a “fighter” for gay rights.
This week, Truis expected to be in court for the highly anticipated testimony of Michael Cohen, a lawyer that once said he would “take a bullet” for his former boss. Now, after breaking with the former president amid his own legal troubles, the fixer-turned-foe is poised to testify against his old boss Tuesday as a key witness at the civil fraud trial that threatens to upend Trump’s real estate empire and wealthy image.
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Trump attended the trial for two days last week — having planned the trip when it was expected that Cohen would be testifying. Trump was also in court for the trial’s first three days in early October. The trial wasn’t held Monday because of issues related to an apparent Covid-19 exposure. Trump is expected to testify later in the trial. All of his trips to the case so far have been voluntary.
Each time, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has complained to TV cameras in the courthouse hallway about a case he’s derided as a “sham,” a “scam” and “a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit alleges that Trump and top executives at his company, the Trump Organization, conspired to pad the business mogul-turned-politician’s net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks, insurers and others to make deals and secure loans.
