Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s recent denunciation of “mixed race” countries indicates that far-right populists no longer feel they need to mask their true beliefs. After years of race-baiting through code words and winks, populist leaders have turned their dog whistles into foghorns.
MOSCOW – Viktor Orbán has said many silly and sinister things during his long tenure as Hungary’s prime minister. But his recent speech arguing that Europeans do not want to live in “mixed race” countries – and that European countries that allowed their native bloodlines to blend with other races were “no longer nations” – definitely represents a new low. In his speech, Orbán declared that Hungarians were willing to “mix” socially with others but “do not want to become a mixed race.” Instead of being ostracized for his racist demarche, Orbán gave the keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the premier American right-wing meeting in Dallas.
MOSCOW – Viktor Orbán has said many silly and sinister things during his long tenure as Hungary’s prime minister. But his recent speech arguing that Europeans do not want to live in “mixed race” countries – and that European countries that allowed their native bloodlines to blend with other races were “no longer nations” – definitely represents a new low. In his speech, Orbán declared that Hungarians were willing to “mix” socially with others but “do not want to become a mixed race.” Instead of being ostracized for his racist demarche, Orbán gave the keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the premier American right-wing meeting in Dallas.