Hungary’s Viktor Orbán calls for ‘less drag queens and more Chuck Norris’ at US Conservative convention
He also refuted the idea he was racist after making racist comments in July.
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Wiki Commons
In a dangerous and at times strange keynote address Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called for “less drag queens and more Chuck Norris” at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) conference in the US.
Attending the conference in Dallas, Texas on Thursday (4 August) the Hungarian ultra-conservative described the West as being in “a clash of civilisations”.
The Hungarian leader received a standing ovation after telling the crowd that marriage was between a man and a woman and then turned to the subject of gender
“[Hungarians] decided we don’t need more genders — we need more rangers,” the Washington Examiner reports Orbán saying. “Less drag queens and more Chuck Norris!” he adds in a somewhat dated reference.
Toxic masculinity references aside, elsewhere he refuted ideas he was racist after a colleague resigned over comments Orbán made in July.
The BBC reports he said: “We are willing to mix with one another, but we do not want to become peoples of mixed race,” while on a visit to Romania. This led to him being labelled a “pure Nazi” by Zsuzsa Hegedus, who was once a part of Orbán’s inner circle.
Speaking on Thursday the Hungarian leader said: “A Christian politician cannot be racist,” but didn’t actually address Hegedus’ comments.
In a dangerous and worrying display of rhetoric, Orbán rallied conservatives in attendance to “take back the institutions in Washington and in Brussels,” adding, “We must co-ordinate the movement of our troops, because we face the same challenge.”
“You have two years to get ready,” he warned in reference to the 2024 US presidential election.
In Hungary, Orbán and his ruling Fidesz party have been positioning themselves as defenders of traditional Hungarian values and against what Orbán has called the “LGBT ideology”.
Last year Hungary passed a law that effectively bans content about homosexuality and gender change to under-18s. The LGBTQ amendments were tacked onto a law to protect children from paedophilia.
It’s based on Russia’s 2013 ‘gay propaganda law’ which was itself arguably inspired by Britain’s own Section 28, introduced under Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1988 and in effect until 2003.
In July the EU began the process of suing Hungary over the homophobic policy.
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