American Right must create its own media, says Orban

REPUBLICANS must create their own media and ensure Fox News-style commentary is broadcast 24/7 to win back power and expose the “insanity of the progressive Left”, Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orban has told US conservatives.

Mr Orban said he had cured Hungary of “progressive dominance” but warned the US media was still too Left-wing at a meeting of the US Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest.

The prime minister, who won a fourth successive election in April, was accused of forcing the closure of opposition newspapers during a media crackdown. He and his allies control most Hungarian media outlets, including state television.

He urged Republicans to make sure Right-wing TV shows, such as those presented by Conservative commentators on Fox News, were broadcast 24 hours a day if they wanted to take back the White House from Joe Biden.

Donald Trump, the former US president and possible Republican candidate in the next elections, told Mr Orban to “keep up the fight” and praised him as “a great leader, a great gentleman,” in a video message at the CPAC conference yesterday.

“We have to take back the institutions in Washington and Brussels,” Mr Orban said on Thursday. “Have your own media. It’s the only way to point out the insanity of the progressive Left.”

Mr Orban said the US media was overrun by organisations pushing the Democrats’ agenda, such as The New

‘Have your own media. It’s the only way to point out the insanity of the progressive Left’

York Times and CNN. “The GOP has its media allies but they can’t compete with the mainstream liberal media,” Mr Orban told delegates at the conference centre on the banks of the Danube.

“My friend Tucker Carlson is the only one who puts himself out there … programmes like his should be broadcast day and night. Or as you say 24/7.”

In a video message to the conference, Mr Carlson, a Fox News anchor, said Hungary should be a model for the US.