My colleague Ben Collins over at NBC News made an astute point on Monday’s episode of “The ReidOut,” linking the Republican Party’s embrace of authoritarians worldwide — such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Argentine President Javier Milei — to the conservative movement’s infatuation with hypermasculine bullies in Donald Trump’s mold.
This week, Republicans reportedly met with Orbán allies to hear their pitch on why the U.S. should no longer support Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia’s invasion. (Read some of my previous posts on the GOP’s love for Orbán here, here and here.)
On Monday’s show, Joy noted Sunday’s audio chat on X that included the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, as well as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson, misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Collins said the right’s love for illiberal men in charge has coincided with a power shift in the conservative movement.
Collins said the right’s love for illiberal men in charge has coincided with a power shift in the conservative movement.
“It’s the American global far right that’s been building on the internet since about 2014, 2015 — [since] Gamergate, basically,” Collins said, referring to the online harassment campaign designed to dissuade women and minorities from participating in video game culture.
Since then, Collins said, showing some sort of “strongman prowess through bullying and intimidation” has essentially been “the entire point of this group.” He continued:
The power structure actually is with Elon Musk, and with Tucker Carlson, and Alex Jones, and Matt Gaetz, and Jack Posobiec, and Vivek Ramaswamy. Those are the people — those are the real power centers of the American Republican Party.
Collins then explained how American conservatives are looking to model Hungary’s illiberalism:
I think the No. 1 thing that I think people should know about…
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