Florida Is Not Hungary, and Ron DeSantis Is Not Viktor Orbán

Last week, Vox’s Zack Beauchamp reached out to me via email to ask if I wanted to share my thoughts for a piece he was working on “looking at the [Ron] DeSantis governing record in light of the rising affection” for Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán “among conservatives.” I responded that, while there are important parallels between DeSantis and a figure like Orbán, those parallels are “less exclusive to Orbán than they are indicative of a broader shift in right-wing parties across the West.” “I think there are some pretty important and foundational differences between DeSantis and Orbán, and it can be tempting to overstate (both among right-wing admirers and left-wing critics of Orbán) the extent to which conservative culture-war types in America cross over with Orbán,” I wrote.

I wasn’t surprised to see that Beauchamp’s piece, “Ron DeSantis is following a trail blazed by a Hungarian authoritarian” — subtitle: “The Florida governor isn’t doing ‘competent Trumpism.’ He’s inventing American Orbánism” — reached a very different conclusion than the one I outlined in my email. Vox is a progressive outlet; its writers are not inclined to view someone such as DeSantis favorably. And it’s understandable that they would look to make comparisons between the Florida governor and the Hungarian prime minister, because Orbán strikes a particularly menacing figure in the progressive imagination. But I think the claim that DeSantis is somehow following an “Orbán model” of governance is wrong, and it’s worth pointing out why.

About the Author

Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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Last week, Vox’s Zack Beauchamp reached out to me via email to ask if I wanted to share my thoughts for a piece he was working on “looking at the [Ron] DeSantis governing record in light of the rising affection” for Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán “among conservatives.” I responded that, while there are important parallels between DeSantis and a figure like Orbán, those parallels are “less exclusive to Orbán than they are indicative of a broader shift in right-wing parties across the West.” “I think there are some pretty important and foundational differences between DeSantis and Orbán, and it can be tempting to overstate (both among right-wing admirers and left-wing critics of Orbán) the extent to which conservative culture-war types in America cross over with Orbán,” I wrote.

I wasn’t surprised to see that Beauchamp’s piece, “Ron DeSantis is following a trail blazed by a Hungarian authoritarian” — subtitle: “The Florida governor isn’t doing ‘competent Trumpism.’ He’s inventing American Orbánism” — reached a very different conclusion than the one I outlined in my email. Vox is a progressive outlet; its writers are not inclined to view someone such as DeSantis favorably. And it’s understandable that they would look to make comparisons between the Florida governor and the Hungarian prime minister, because Orbán strikes a particularly menacing figure in the progressive imagination. But I think the claim that DeSantis is somehow following an “Orbán model” of governance is wrong, and it’s worth pointing out why.