Chapter 17: Electoral Dictator
77 “For saying these things out loud . . .” “‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,”
www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 0:50–0:54.
77 “Left-wing NGOs have denounced him . . .” “‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,”
www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 0:55–1:00.
77 refused to authorize Carlson’s trip Kelby Vera, “Tucker Carlson’s ‘Unapproved’ Trip to Hungary Could Have Led to His Fox Firing,” HuffPost, November 7, 2023,
www.huffpost.com/entry/tucker-carlson-unapproved-hungary-fired_n_654a6b0fe4b0e63c9dc1220a.
77 “tipping point” . . . Vera, “Tucker Carlson’s ‘Unapproved’ Trip to Hungary Could Have Led to His Fox Firing,”
www.huffpost.com/entry/tucker-carlson-unapproved-hungary-fired_n_654a6b0fe4b0e63c9dc1220a.
77 “We’ve read many times how repressive Hungary is” ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,”
www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 1:45–1:50,
77 “That’s not just wrong, it’s insane” ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ on Vaccines, Hungary Prime Minister Interview,”
www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-carlson-tonight-on-vaccines-hungary-prime-minister-interview, 2:00–2:03.
77 changed Hungary’s constitution Miklós Bánkuti et al., “Hungary’s Illiberal Turn: Disabling the Constitution,”Th Journal of Democracy 23, no. 3 (July 2012),
doi.org/10.1353/jod.2012.0054, 139.
77 expand the size of the high court, and pack it with pro-Fidesz judges Bánkuti et al., “Hungary’s Illiberal Turn: Disabling the Constitution,” idoi.org/10.1353/jod.2012.0054, 140.
77 halved the size of Hungary’s parliament Kim Lane Scheppele, “How Viktor Orbán Wins,” sJournal of Democracy 33, no. 3 (July 2022),
www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins/.
77 gerrymandered all of Hungary Scheppele, “How Viktor Orbán Wins,”
www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins/.
77 concentrating opposition voters into large districts and Scheppele, “How Viktor Orbán Wins,” iwww.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins/.
77 enabled “voter tourism” Matt Apuzzo and Benjamin Novak, “In Hungary, Victor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,” New York Times, March 31, 2022,
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
77 can cross the border on Election Day Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Victor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
77 mayor’s office in the small northeastern town of Kispalád Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
77–78
had been running a close reelection race Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
78 would soon be looking for a job Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
78 sign some documents in exchange for public jobs Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
78 confirmed 135 Ukrainians lived in her minuscule home Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
78 were now eligible to register to vote Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
78 were fined in 2020 Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
78 legalized the scheme Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
78 Sanko’s son Adam described a scheme Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
78 the government has not made voter data public Apuzzo and Novak, “In Hungary, Viktor Orban Remakes an Election to His Liking,”
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/europe/hungary-viktor-orban-election.html.
78 fired more than 1,600 journalists Human Rights Watch, “Hungary: Media Curbs Harm Rule of Law,” February 13, 2024,
www.hrw.org/news/2024/02/13/hungary-media-curbs-harm-rule-law.
78 cut government advertising to media outlets Scheppele, “How Viktor Orbán Wins,” swww.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins/.
78 contracts with companies who advertised at these media outlets Scheppele, “How Viktor Orbán Wins,”
www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins/.
78 established a five-member Media Council to levy fines Bánkuti et al., “Hungary’s Illiberal Turn: Disabling the Constitution,”doi.org/10.1353/jod.2012.0054, 140.
78 Hit with fines and starving for advertising revenue Scheppele, “How Viktor Orbán Wins,” pwww.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins.
78 turned them into pro-Orbán mouthpieces Scheppele, “How Viktor Orbán Wins,” awww.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins; and Pablo Gorondi, “Hungary: Lawmakers Pass Billboard Law, Opposition Cries Foul,” Associated Press (AP) News, June 23, 2017,
apnews.com/article/94cc758f00da40f2b7bf0789b415b3ba.
78 exerted similar control over the media . . . Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2021), 102; and “The Press in the Third Reich,” Holocaust Encyclopedia, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, accessed August 20, 2025,
encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-press-in-the-third-reich. Find the Strongmen library book at
search.worldcat.org/title/1233267123.
78 fined billboard owners for providing discounts Gorondi, “Hungary: Lawmakers Pass Billboard Law, Opposition Cries Foul,”
apnews.com/article/94cc758f00da40f2b7bf0789b415b3ba
79 “Rather than jailing journalists . . .” Scheppele, “How Viktor Orbán Wins,” rwww.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins.
79 “is less dramatic but equally destructive” . . . “Democracies may die . . .” Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die (New York: Broadway Books, 2018), 3. Find the library book at
search.worldcat.org/title/986837776.
