BUDAPEST – A day after launching his Twitter account Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ally of Donald Trump, admitted today he missed the former United States president on the social media website.
“After my first day on Twitter, there’s one question on my mind. Where is my good friend, @realDonaldTrump?” Orban posted.
Trump was booted off Twitter – and handed a two-year suspension from Facebook – following the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by the then president’s supporters.
He had used the popular and powerful platforms as a megaphone for his often controversial and sometimes extremist opinions as well as encouraging conspiracy theories.
The hardline anti-immigration Orban meanwhile has forged links with US right-wingers in recent years, earning praise from Trump who also endorsed the Hungarian before his re-election last April.
In August Orban was guest of honour at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas – an annual gathering of conservative activists – where his tub-thumping speech was greeted with wild applause.
Orban’s authoritarian populism pleases the CPAC crowd but goes down less well at Nato and in Europe, where his support for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin puts him at odds with leaders.
An avid user of Facebook – by far the most popular social media platform in Hungary – Orban’s first post on Twitter yesterday read: “Let’s make some noise!”. – AFP, October 11, 2022
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