Hungary’s Orban Tweets Encouraging Message to Trump as Arraignment Looms

© BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIIn this file photo taken on May 13, 2019 Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban listens while US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC.
In this file photo taken on May 13, 2019 Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban listens while US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.04.2023
Subscribe
Last week, Donald Trump became the first former president in US history to be brought up on criminal charges. The charges reportedly center on the illegal use of campaign funds to make a hush money payment to a porn star. Trump has vociferously denied any wrongdoing, insisting the charges are part of a wider political “witch hunt” against him.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed his support for Donald Trump on Monday, tweeting an image of the two men shaking hands and accompanying the photo with the words “Keep on fighting, Mr. President! We are with you, @realDonaldTrump.”
Orban is one of a handful of European leaders with whom Trump struck up a warm relationship during his presidency, with Trump giving the Hungarian leader the highest form of praise possible at a meeting in 2019, saying that Orban was “probably like me.”
The prime minister has not shied away from tweeting at his conservative comrade from across the Atlantic from time to time, seemingly ignoring the implications regarding Budapest’s relations with Washington and the current US president, Joe Biden.
Last year, Trump endorsed Orban ahead of Hungary’s parliamentary elections, saying the prime minister had his “complete support.” Orban, who joined Twitter only last October, returned the favor in a meme tweet, writing shortly after joining the social media platform that there was “one question” on his mind – “where is my good friend, @realDonald Trump?”
Trump’s Twitter account was restored after a nearly two-year-long permaban was lifted by new Twitter boss Elon Musk in November, but Trump has yet to post, preferring his own platform – Truth Social.
Orban has used his Twitter presence to post a series of mostly English-language messages addressed to international audiences, including Hungary’s position on the conflict in Ukraine, photos from meetings with European leaders, and Budapest’s viewpoints at EU venues.
Monday’s tweet earned Orban praise from Trump’s supporters, but sparked outrage among liberals and Trump-haters, who castigated the Hungarian leader and Trump as “bad people” and “two Russophile homophobic racist hate spreaders grinning at the world.”
Former US President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference 2022 (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.04.2023
Americas
'Trumped-Up' Charges Against Former US President 'Embarrassing' to US
Orban’s show of support comes a day before Trump’s expected arraignment at a New York court on about three dozen federal charges related to the alleged illegal payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels, an ex-porn star, ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, called his accuser a “horseface,” accused her of extortion, and charged the New York district attorney of going after him to try to knock him out of the 2024 race on false pretenses, similar to Russiagate or his twin failed impeachments. The former president has vowed to fight the charges. He is expected to give public remarks on the case from his Mar-a-Lago estate hours after his arraignment.
NYPD crowd control officers keep watch on a march of demonstrators as they protest against the shooting of Kimani Kiki Gray on Thursday, March 14, 2013 in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. The 16-year-old was shot to death on a Brooklyn street last Saturday night by plainclothes police officers who claim the youth pointed a .38-caliber revolver at them, while the family says Gray was unarmed.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.04.2023
Americas
New York Police Step Up Security at Manhattan Court Ahead of Trump Arraignment
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала