Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán declares in CPAC that “a Christian politician cannot be racist”.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called on conservatives in Europe and the US to take power back from the liberals, saying a “clash of civilizations” was underway.

The far-right leader, speaking before the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas on Thursday, recently faced an international backlash over controversial statements he made in late July, in which he said Hungarians “do not want mixed-race peoples .” A former adviser, who has since resigned, described these statements as “a pure Nazi speech worthy of Goebbels”.

Orbán, who came to power in 2010, has progressively increased stuck on the political opposition and freedom of the press, and further consolidated his power in the last two elections.

At the CPAC, Orbán tried to avoid criticism by claiming that “a Christian politician cannot be racist” and that those who think he is racist or anti-Semitic are “just idiots”.

“I can already see tomorrow’s headlines,” Orbán said. “Far-right European racist and anti-Semitic strongman, Putin’s Trojan horse, speaks at a conservative conference. But I don’t want to give them any ideas, they know best how to write fake news.”

In his speech, Orbán also attacked Jewish billionaire George Soros, former President Barack Obama, “globalists” and the Democratic Party: “They hate me and slander me and my country like they hate you.”

He also touted Hungary’s aggressive illegal immigration Anti-“Gender Ideology” guidelines. At one point, Orbán read out the Hungarian constitution’s definition that marriage is between a man and a woman, prompting applause from the CPAC audience. “Less drag queens and more Chuck Norris,” he said.

A day before his CPAC appearance, Orbán and his delegation met with former President Donald Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for Mr. Trump’s leadership PAC Save America, tweeted pictures of the meeting.

Also the Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó commented in a tweet that Hungarian-US relations “were at their peak when Donald Trump was president” and expressed hope that he would become president again. .

Looking ahead to the 2024 US presidential race, Orbán called on conservatives to mobilize on both sides of the Atlantic to regain political power.

“We have to recapture the institutions in Washington and in Brussels. We need to coordinate the movement of our troops because we face the same challenge,” he said. “You have two years to get ready.”