Anne Applebaum: Hungary's Surreal, Post-Reality Campaign

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<p>Putin puppet Viktor Orbán—whose nepotistic and corrupt government in Hungary has become the model for the far-right in America and Europe—is facing his first serious election challenge in 16 years. It turns out that voters get mad when a president steals from the public and tanks the economy. Vance tried to bolster Orbán with Kremlin-esque fake propaganda, but the energy may be with the grassroots campaign of Peter Magyar. Plus, Vance's arrogance and ignorance about Ukraine, Trump is still coming up short on his Iran war goals, the administration made some weird threats against Pope Leo, and Kari Lake is still a loser.<strong> <br /></strong><br /><strong>Anne Applebaum</strong> joins Tim Miller. </p><p><em>show notes<br /></em><br /></p></div><ul>

<li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/hungary-first-post-reality-political-campaign/686565/?gift=AO0MhSsTDaHgiP_RxFGfB8quFWywd2gXk18ODmAk_pw&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=share">Anne's piece on Hungary, "The First Post-Reality Political Campaign"</a></li>

<li><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/iran-schools-trump-in-the-art-of-the-deal-hormuz-war-oil-strait-ceasefire-lebanon-israel?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&amp;utm_medium=web">Thursday's "Morning Shots"</a></li>

<li><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/donald-trumps-unfreedom-of-the-seas-iran-war-hormuz-trade-economy-oil?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&amp;utm_medium=web">Giselle Donnelly's Bulwark piece on how Trump's war is impacting global navigation</a></li>

<li><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/twilight-of-democracy-the-seductive-lure-of-authoritarianism-anne-applebaum/7f9343b67c1e2894">Anne's book, "Twilight of Democracy" </a></li>

<li><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/autocracy-inc-the-dictators-who-want-to-run-the-world-anne-applebaum/4edfe860b09ac90f">Anne's "Autocracy, Inc." in paperback </a></li>

<li><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/furious-minds-the-making-of-the-maga-new-right-laura-k-field/c3ab310155a05b89">Anne's book recommendation, "Furious Minds: The Making of the Maga New Right"</a></li>

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<a href="https://www.thelettersfromleo.com/">Letters from Leo on Substack <br /></a><br /></li>

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