JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Vice President JD Vance is in Budapest to support Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He is trailing by double digits in the polls ahead of a national election this Sunday. NPR's Rob Schmitz followed Vance throughout the day and joins us now from Budapest. Hi there.
ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: Rob, what was Vance's message to Hungarian voters? Where'd he go? What did he have to say?
SCHMITZ: Yeah, he had quite the tour of Budapest today. He started at an 18th century former monastery overlooking the city where Viktor Orban now has his office. He quickly spoke to the press, and then he went straight to an Orban rally that was held inside a large handball arena. And yes, this is a part of the world that builds arenas for the sport of handball. So this arena was packed with supporters, and Vance delivered what, for them, was a very familiar speech. He railed against the European Union, blaming what he called bureaucrats from Brussels for trying to interfere with Hungary. There were heavy undertones of protecting Hungary's national sovereignty from the evils of the EU. Here's a snippet of what Vance said.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JD VANCE: Will you stand for freedom, for truth, and for the God of our fathers?
(CHEERING)
VANCE: Then, my friends, go to the polls in the weekend. Stand with Viktor Orban because he stands for you, and he stands for all these things. God bless Hungary, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.
SUMMERS: So you hear Vance there with voters in Budapest participating in a call and response. It does sound like from that tape we just played that he was a hit with Orban voters. But how much name recognition does Vice President Vance have among Hungarians compared to President Trump?
SCHMITZ: Yeah, he's not as famous in this part of Europe as President Trump is. And in the run-up to this visit, there were murmurs coming out of Budapest that Orban was really hoping that Trump could make his own visit of support. But in a way, though, Trump was there today because the first thing Vance did when he took the stage was to pull a cellphone out of his pocket and make a call to the president, and here's some tape of that.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VANCE: Mr. President, you are on with about 5,000 Hungarian patriots, and I think they love you even more than they love Viktor Orban.
(CHEERING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I can't believe that. I can't believe that because I love Hungary, and I love that Viktor. I'll tell you, he's a fantastic man. We've had a tremendous relationship.
SUMMERS: Rob, how much sway can Vance's visit, as well as hearing from President Trump over the phone there, have on Hungarian voters?
SCHMITZ: Yeah. With just days to go before Sunday's election, it's really hard to say. I mean, Viktor Orban has been in power for nearly 16 years, and this is the first time he's been this far behind in the polls, with less than a week to go. And depending on what poll you look at, Orban is between 10 and 25% behind a younger, charismatic, conservative challenger, Peter Magyar. And even some of the voters I spoke to after Orban's rally admitted that they weren't even sure that Orban could overcome that deficit.
SUMMERS: And how impactful would it be for Europe if Orban loses?
SCHMITZ: Yeah. It could be a really big deal because his opponent, Peter Magyar, has promised to mend ties with the EU. Viktor Orban, you know, has been successful in holding up tens of billions of dollars' worth of funding for Ukraine. He's also been able to unite with other far-right parties throughout Europe to fight against the EU. So if Orban should lose this election, then Europe's far-right loses one of its strongest allies. And that's why Vice President Vance was here today to try and bolster this movement that Orban stands for.
SUMMERS: NPR's Rob Schmitz in Budapest, thanks so much.
SCHMITZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
