Donald Trump has been compared to a lot throughout his mediocre rise into politics. Even during the infancy of his 2016 election, Trump was being compared to dictators, tyrants, and demagogues throughout the world. Many of these comparisons may have sounded radical at the time, but 8 years later American politics are still being defined by his snarky remarks, corrupt policies, and impending court cases. Political science has known for some time that the age of bloody dictators storming the government is over, and the rise of stealth authoritarians is here. There have been multiple accounts of stealth authoritarians rising to power in just the last decade or two. In this regard, stealth authoritarianism can be defined as political actors taking power through legalistic measures. Due to shared stealth authoritarian characteristics and actions, Victor Orbán of Hungary standouts to Trump. Levitsky and Ziblatt point out that historic 20^th century dictators, like Hitler and Mussolini, where characterized by four main points: weak commitment to democratic institutions, denying opposition legitimacy, utilizing violence, and curtailing civil liberties (Levitsy and Ziblatt 2018). Orbán and Trump are comparable in autocratic tendencies, such as weak commitment to democratic, curtailing civil liberties, yet not in their utilization of violence.  

Orbán exemplifies Levitsky’s weak commitment to democratic institutions, showing similarities to Trump. Orbán gerrymandered his 66.8 Fidesz majority in 2014, severely diminishing democracy itself and vertical accountability (Kornai 2015). Likewise, the 2022 Amnesty International Report highlighted concerns of judicial freedom, as there has not been an implemented resolution to the 2016 dismissal of Chief Justice András Baka. Orbán appointed the majority of residing justices who serve for life (Kornai 2015). This judicial control combined with Orbán’s manipulated 2/3 legislative majority diminishes all resemblance of horizontal accountability. Orbán’s administration adopted a new constitution in 2011 that was drafted under closed doors without public discussion (Kornai 2015). The regime has further passed numerous retroactive laws that are explicitly illegal in the constitution. Yet, Orbán has been able to control parliamentary representatives who have appointed loyalist prosecutors in governmental probes against Orbán, while allowing investigations into opposition parties with theatric performances (Kornai 2015).  

Likewise, Trump has shown consistent and deliberate disrespect to democratic institutions, similarly to Orbán. The Final Report of the Select Committe to investigate January 6^th cited numerous instances where Trump displayed disrespect to democratic institutions. The report specifically highlighted “The Big Lie” in which Trump had planned to steal the election, both before it happened and after it happened. He showed unmistakable evidence of methodical planning to ensure his chances of victory. Trump, prior to the election, had conducted a planned “crusade” against mail-in voting. Trump had somehow formed a misguided notion that democrats would use mail-in voting more than republicans, and so he attacked the USPS and the institution itself, despite a global pandemic going on at the time. He had then claimed that the disparity of partisan turnout, 59% democrats voted by mail-in ballot in 2020 whereas only 30% of Republicans did, was evidence of voter fraud. Using this as a basis for trying to overturn the 2020 election through influencing governors, getting state legislatures to send separate electors, and through January 6^th itself. Although there is still further evidence of Trump’s disrespect to democratic institutions, it is already clear that Trump and Orban share this same characteristic. 

Trump and Orbán have both shown weak commitment to civil liberties through their attacks on media expression. Orbán has been able to centralize Hungarian media corporations under state control via legal procedures. Under state control, media companies have blocked opposition candidates from running political ads and critical speech, infringing on their right to expression. Furthermore, Orbán’s oligarchy has threatened independent journalists who have voiced opposition to their regime. According to Freedom House there have been numerous instances of Orbán oligarchs sending legal requests to journalists to take down unfavorable press. This is very similar to Trump’s attack on leftist media in American politics. During Trump’s presidency, he often attacked opposition media outlets, like the New York Times and Washington post. This was done to delegitimize their criticisms of Trump while presenting himself as a reputable force. Trump has often been quoted calling different leftist news sources as “fake news”. Although Trump’s attack on the media is not as direct as Orbán, they both have the same effect of diminishing freedom of speech. However, since Trump’s banning on Twitter for disinformation, Trump has increasingly utilized his own media company called “The Truth.” This platform has allowed him to spew increasing lies and misrepresentations of fact. Trump currently owns a near 2/3 majority of the company, currently estimated to be worth 4 billion dollars. 

Trump is noted by his utilization of violence showing his autocratic tendencies. Trump’s attack on the US capitol during January 6^th, 2021, cannot be understated, as it truly was unprecedented in recent American history and was a way of utilizing violence. An amalgamation of Trump supporters with far-right extremist groups, active and retired military personnel, and ordinary people stormed the Capitol building, causing multiple deaths, deliberate destruction, while threatening the lives of countless representatives. Even in 2024, there are ongoing court cases deciding who was truly responsible for the insurrection, as Trump has consistently claimed it was only a riot and that he was not culpable. Yet, Trump’s speech that caused the crowd to turn to frenzy is still available. Trump utilized increasing populist rhetoric in his speech to turn the crowd to violence, in his own words “you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong”. On the reverse, Orbán has not been found to utilize violence, differing from Trump. Orbán had previously been in public office in Hungary from 1998 to 2002, when he was voted out of office. Orbán left office peacefully until 2010, when he was re-elected as prime minister. Without a doubt since 2010, Orbán has become an autocrat, but when Trump was voted out of office, he led an insurrection. This is the stark difference between the two, and it foreshadows an alarming future for American politics. Perhaps Orbán could be forced out of power peacefully, but Trump has already utilized a violent strategy to stay in office.  

Trump and Orbán share key autocratic characteristics, as outlaid by Levitsky and Ziblatt. Both leaders have shown repeated disrespect to democratic institutions. Orbán has been able to stay in power due to his gerrymandering, court packing, and constitutional changes. Whereas Trump tried to stay in power through manipulation of the electorate, and a methodical plan dubbed “The Big Lie.” Furthermore, both leaders have likewise shown disrespect to civil liberties, particularly through their attacks on the media. Fidesz owns most media corporations in Hungary, and it has selectively chosen who can and cannot use it to campaign. Likewise, limiting any oppositions freedom of speech. Trump on the other hand may come off less harsh than Orbán, but Trump has repeatedly attacked the media. Like his big lie, Trump has attacked media corporations to discredit their criticism and diminish their voice. After being called out for spreading misinformation online, Trump now owns his own media corporation, more directly paralleling Orbán. The biggest difference between Orbán and Trump has been their utilization of violence. Despite Orbán clearly being an autocrat, he has not been proven to have used violence to stay in power. Trump on the other hand had started an insurrection after his first time being voted out of office. Trump has still not been held accountable for it, and he still tries to deny it. This staunch difference points to an alarming future of a second Trump presidency. Although not total parallels, Americans must look at Orbán’s illiberal democracy when deciding to vote for Trump. 

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