Vance Bitterly Humiliated as Voters Turn Out in Droves to Reject His Pleas
Vice President J.D. Vance entered the Hungarian election to help a friendly candidate, but his attempt to tip the scales appears to have blown up in his face.
Vance suffered a major embarrassment Sunday when voters ousted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of President Donald Trump and an icon of the global right, despite the vice president’s on-the-ground campaign offensive last week.
Orbán’s Fidesz party is on track to win just 54 seats with more than half the votes counted, while its rival Péter Magyar’s Tisza party is poised to win 138 seats in the 199-seat parliament. Guard reports. Orbán, 62, admitted defeat.
After JD Vance visited Hungary last week to campaign on Orbán’s behalf, prediction markets reduced Orbán’s chances of winning. / Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
Hungarians went to the polls in record numbers on Sunday, pushing the turnout rate to 78 percent; this is the highest rate in any election in Hungary’s post-communist history.
The stunning defeat of the European Union’s longest-serving leader came just days after Vance traveled to Hungary to campaign on behalf of Orbán, who has close ties to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Vance, 41, attended a MAGA-like rally to galvanize Orbán, whom he calls “one of Europe’s only true statesmen.”
During the rally, Vance railed against what he called European Union “bureaucrats” who were “trying to destroy the Hungarian economy” and because “they hate this guy.”
“Will you defend sovereignty and democracy, truth and the God of our ancestors?” Vance asked Hungarian voters. “So my friends, go to the polls this weekend, stand with Viktor Orbán, because he is defending you and defending all of this.”
Vance also invited Trump to the rally, and although the president didn’t pick up the phone the first time, he eventually connected with the crowd and said: “I love Hungary and I love Viktor. I’m telling you he’s a great guy.”
After Vance’s visit, prediction markets reduced Orbán’s chances of winning.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Vance’s office for comment.
Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party, speaks at the closing rally of the election campaign. Magyar, 45, is a former Orbán supporter who left the Fidesz party in 2024. / Marton Monus/REUTERS
In his speech on Sunday, Orbán said the election result was “painful but clear for us”. Guard. “We were not given the responsibility and opportunity to direct.”
Over the last 16 years, MAGA’s European darling has eliminated many checks and balances within the country’s government while restricting press freedoms and consolidating the power of the executive branch.
However, Orbán’s close ties to Moscow and the weakening economy emerged as a major campaign issue in the elections.
It’s also been a tough week for Vance, who failed to reach a peace deal with Iranian leaders in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday. / Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
On the morning of Vance’s visit last week, Bloomberg reported that Orbán called Putin in October 2025 and offered to help Moscow “by any means necessary” to win the war in Ukraine.
Magyar, 45, a former Orbán supporter who left the Fidesz party in 2024, was running on an anti-corruption and pro-EU platform.
If Tisza’s party wins the supermajority it is currently expected to win, this will allow Magyar to dismantle key features of Orbán’s “illiberal democracy.” Policy reports. Orbán’s defeat also removed the main creator of the EU’s internal turmoil from the 27-member bloc.
