Donald Trump praises virulently homophobic Hungary prime minister Viktor Orbán during debate

Former President Donald Trump has praised Hungary’s controversial and deeply anti-LGBTQ+ Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

During Tuesday’s (10 September) presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris, Trump endorsed Orbán for the second time (the first in 2022 as Orbán ran for re-election) despite the leader’s staunch opposition to LGBTQ+ rights.

The topic of Orbán arose when Harris pointedly noted that many world leaders do not regard Trump highly.

“I’m going to tell you that I have traveled the world as vice president of the United States and world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump,” she said.

“I have talked with military leaders, some of whom work with you, and they say you are a disgrace.”

In response, Trump stated that Orbán is one example of a leader who favoured the disgraced Trump administration.

“They call him a strong man. He’s a tough person,” Trump said of Orbán, a hard-right politician who has drawn controversy for his efforts to limit press freedom and political opposition.

“Viktor Orbán said, he said, ‘the most respected, most feared person is Donald Trump. We had no problems when Trump was president,’” Trump said.

Orbán has a long and storied history of attacking LGBTQ+ rights, so it’s no surprise he and Trump – who has launched attack after attack on the queer community in the US – have got each other’s backs.

As the prime minister of Hungary, Orbán has repeatedly restricted the civil rights of LGBTQ+ Hungarians.

Orbán has amended the constitution to change the definition of family and effectively ban adoption by same-sex couples, and put in place a law allowing citizens to ‘report’ same-sex parents to authorities.

In 2009, registered partnership for same-sex couples was legalised, however Orbán passed legislation that constitutionally banned same-sex marriage.

In 2021, the Venice Commission, which advises the Council of Europe on constitutional law matters, published an warning stating that Hungary’s “LGBTQ+ propaganda” law breaches human rights standards.

Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law bans the “promotion” of queer lives to minors. 

Such anti-LGBTQ+ laws – which ban LGBTQ+ content in schools, advertising or media which could be seen by minors – are chilling and often conflate the queer community with paedophilia.

The legislation in Hungary has been compared to Russia’s “gay propaganda” ban, as well as to Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28 in the UK, which banned the “promotion” of LGBTQ+ issues in schools.

Furthermore, the Hungarian PM has stripped away trans rights by ending legal recognition for trans people. The decision has left trans Hungarians devastated with laws effectively legally erasing them to such a degree that it is driving some to suicide.

Orbán has also reportedly stated that “no money in the world” would make him accept LGBTQ+ “propaganda.”

His statement came after the EU froze funding to the country in 2022. Orbán went on to accuse the EU of conducting an “LGBTQ+ offensive” by rejecting “Christian heritage.”