Why Republican elites embrace Viktor Orban

Hungarian President Viktor Orban is a key speaker opening the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas today. A 5 minute interview broadcast by NPR on Here & Now discussed why Trump Republicans openly embrace Orban. The interview was with Kim Lane Scheppele, professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton University (her curriculum vitae is here). Schepple is an expert on Orban.

This is the best description I have encountered that explains why radical right Republican elites and fascist propaganda sources like Faux News (especially Tucker Carlson) are so powerfully drawn to and inspired by Orban. They find his messaging and tactics to be superb. 

What Schepple describes is terrifying in its clarity and simplicity.

In the 5 minute interview, Scheppele describes the rise of Orban and how he killed democracy in Hungary. Experts no longer consider Hungary to be a democracy. The actions he took to gain power and then kill democracy is what Republican Party leaders admire and are trying to emulate in America right now. The parallels are close and undeniable.

The key points:

• Orban gained power in 2010 based on nationalist and racist demagoguery and dog whistle culture war. People open to this kind of message flocked to him and put him in power. His demagoguery created a false narrative of White victimization and dire threat of Whites by non-White people and globalization.  
• Once in power Orban changed election rules to destroy free and fair elections. Elections after he came to power were heavily rigged. He has now been elected in three consecutive, heavily-rigged elections after gaining power in 2010. Those faux elections are the basis for his claim to legitimacy.
• At the same time he destroyed elections, Orban neutered other aspects of Hungarian democracy. He got rid of professional public servants loyal to the rule of law and the people of Hungary. He replaced them with people loyal to him. 
• Republicans see what Orban has done as a proof of concept in how to overthrow a democracy. The Orban overthrow model is shockingly simple: 

(1) start with culture wars to whip up a loyal base of public support, 

(2) once in power, manipulate the rules of democracy and government functions to cement minority rule, and 

(3) “win” rigged elections to stay in power.

Scheppele asserts that once a Republican is back in the White House, the Republican Party plan is to purge federal civil servants deemed not loyal enough. They are to be replaced with with people loyal to the president and Republican Party elites. She claims that Steven Bannon is now training Republicans to prepare for the purge when the day comes. 

Qs: 

1. Does any of the above sound familiar, or is Schepple full of hyperbole?

2. If one told these things to a rank and file T**** supporter, would they most likely believe it, mostly reject it, or mostly have some other reaction(s)?