Letters to the Editor: Viktor Orban, champion of U.S. conservatives?

To the editor: Robin Abcarian’s article caused me to reflect on a comparable situation in American history in the 1930s. Tucker Carlson’s political idol, Viktor Orban, reminds me of radio broadcaster Father Charles Coughlin’s affection for right-wing and bigoted views such as those espoused by Hitler and company. (I am especially sensitive to this comparison because my own father, Harry Milton, who fought beside George Orwell in the Spanish Civil War, was condemned by Coughlin on national radio after his return to America.)

Inviting Orban to America to spew his hate-filled brand is beyond reprehensible and echoes the 1939 Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden that encouraged the fascists in Europe that there would be American support. Is this what America represents in 2022?

David Milton, Laguna Beach

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To the editor: I was four years old when my family left Hungary during World War II. My dad’s dream was to immigrate to the United States. It took years of waiting for admission until that dream was finally fulfilled in L.A.

Throughout those years, I became familiar with the Hungarian diaspora and remained connected with my relatives back “home.” What I learned is Hungarians are extremely proud of their language, unique in the world, as well as their literature, art, music and contributions to world knowledge. From the viewpoint of Hungarians’ pride and identity, I think Viktor Orban’s speech [at the Conservative Political Action Conference] resonates.

It’s a different story, as Abcarian critiques, how Orban’s speech resonates with the current spectrum of democratic values.

Stephen Felszeghy, Whittier