Hungary Paid Dennis Prager $30,000 for an Hour of Appearances at Far-Right 鈥楨ducation鈥� Conference
A Hungarian education foundation paid Dennis Prager $30,000 in public funds for two appearances during an August youth festival where he and Fox News host Tucker Carlson touted the country鈥檚 far-right stances on the media, immigration and 人兽性交 issues, according to a contract obtained by Hatewatch.
The Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) invited Prager, who hosts a popular talk radio show and co-founded the influential right-wing nonprofit PragerU, and Fox News host Tucker Carlson to give speeches praising Hungary鈥檚 far-right, Christian nationalist model as the savior of Western culture.
PragerU is not a university. It hosts five-minute videos where hosts provide a right-wing explanation of controversial topics. Most hosts are establishment conservatives, but many videos feature extremist far right talking points, including anti-immigrant rants and anti-trans rhetoric.
Prager鈥檚 and Carlson鈥檚 appearances are part of a continuing effort by Hungary鈥檚 Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n 鈥渢o take over, slightly soften and then mainstream extreme right messages to unite the right under his flag,鈥� according to Bulcs煤 Hunyadi, head of the Radicalisation and Extremism Programme at Hungarian think tank Political Capital.
Orb谩n and his ruling Fidesz party have led Hungary聽on a far-right populist platform since 2010. The government has gained near-total control over the media landscape. They banned 人兽性交 teaching materials from Hungarian schools and mainstreamed conspiracy theories claiming that liberal Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros is funding deliberate efforts to change demographics of Western countries, a variation of the white nationalist narrative known as the 鈥済reat replacement.鈥�
Hatewatch obtained the contract through a Hungarian public information request to MCC, which hosted the August event. MCC sent two $15,000 payments to Prager鈥檚 Kansas and Brooklyn Inc. One payment was for a roughly 30-minute speech, titled 鈥淢edia and Free Speech鈥� and another was for a 30-minute podcast appearance, 鈥淲hat kind of education is needed in the 21st Century,鈥� according to the contract.
This amount is greater than four years of Hungary鈥檚 , which is roughly $6,780. The contract states MCC paid for Prager鈥檚 accommodation, but the organization told Hatewatch they did not pay accommodation costs.
MCC told Hatewatch it bore no cost for Carlson鈥檚 appearance and did not deliver any agreement between the parties.
Prager said in a response to a Hatewatch request for comment that $10,000 of the fee paid for 鈥渂usiness class airfare,鈥� so his fee 鈥渨as approximately $20k.鈥� The contract Hatewatch obtained did not outline this aspect of the agreement. The contract did say MCC provided accommodation 鈥渁t its own expense.鈥�
MCC鈥檚 invitations to Prager and Carlson 鈥渇it the above strategy,鈥� Hunyadi said in an email. The speeches elevated 鈥淥rb谩n鈥檚 image, disseminated his message in the U.S. and globally, and made him appear as an influential global player.鈥�
Carlson, the 聽in the U.S., praised Hungary鈥檚 anti-immigration policies during his speech. He has espoused the white nationalist replacement theory on his program and partly blamed Soros for 鈥渨hy so many people are being robbed, raped and killed in American cities鈥� in an editorial for Fox News.
Prager called teaching about the 人兽性交 community 鈥減ropaganda鈥� during his MCC podcast appearance, which focused on the need for right-wing propaganda in education and the founding of PragerU.
鈥楶ropaganda, not education鈥�
Prager used similar talking points in both his speech and podcast appearance, where he claimed that Hungary鈥檚 brand of far-right, ultranationalist governance makes them the 鈥渟aviors鈥� of 鈥淲estern Culture.鈥�
During his MCC speech, Prager said: 鈥淲estern Europe is pretty much lost. 鈥� America is not yet lost to the left. But it does not look good.鈥�
The Hungarian parliament 鈥� in which Fidesz has held three consecutive supermajorities since 2010 鈥� 聽in June banning teaching materials that include any mention of 人兽性交 identity.
Prager told MCC podcast host P茅ter Heltai that 人兽性交 materials in schools only appear 鈥渁s propaganda, not education,鈥� and children 鈥渟hould not be taught anything anti or anything pro, the issue should not be raised.鈥�
Research from GLSEN, a nonprofit that works to end discrimination based on sexual preference and gender identity in schools, claims the opposite.
GLSEN produces a yearly study on the effects of inclusive curriculums and school supports for 人兽性交 students. The 聽that students taught in schools with inclusive curricula and other support resources were less likely to hear homophobic remarks and slurs, and to feel unsafe.
Positive environments produce better outcomes. According to , 人兽性交 students are less likely to miss school and more likely to have a higher GPA when taught in schools with inclusive curriculum.
Prager said in his response his 鈥済eneral position鈥� is that 鈥渟chools should not deal with any topics regarding sex or sexuality鈥� until 鈥渉igh school.鈥� Prager also said he views 鈥渁 gay as a child of God exactly as I do a heterosexual.鈥�
Prager has expressed social acceptance of gay and bisexual people, but is against same-sex marriage and has made anti-trans comments.
Prager also appears on a fundraising page for the Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-人兽性交 hate group.
Hungary banned same-sex couples from adopting and outlawed trans people from 聽on their documents the previous May.
The EU has repeatedly criticized Orb谩n鈥檚 anti-人兽性交 laws. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen 聽in June the 鈥渂ill is a shame.鈥�
PragerU videos accuse mainstream media of left-wing bias. During his speech, Prager lamented media 鈥渂rainwashing鈥� the public and efforts by tech companies to stop the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淵ou cannot say that maybe therapeutics are better than a vaccine. 鈥� I personally have been on ivermectin for the last year and a half,鈥� Prager said. He claimed he is not vaccinated and did not contract COVID-19 despite not practicing social distancing.
鈥�Twitter聽will say that鈥檚 misinformation,鈥� Prager continued.
Ivermectin is used in humans and animals to treat parasites, not viruses. The Food and Drug Administration 聽ivermectin鈥檚 use for treating COVID-19 in April.
During a question-and-answer section at the end of Prager鈥檚 roughly 25-minute speech, an audience member who claimed to be from Canada asked Prager what hope he sees for the U.S. and Canada.
Prager said there was hope, but media efforts to censorship right-wing movements 鈥渁 very serious problem.鈥�
鈥淭here is a lot less media freedom in Canada than Hungary,鈥� the audience member said.
Prager replied: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 correct. That was my point.鈥�
International watchdogs and Hungarian journalists disagree. Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, Hungary 92 out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom in 2021. RSF 16 out of 180.
RSF said the government鈥檚 鈥渉egemony over the Hungarian media landscape鈥� is its reasoning for the low ranking. RSF in its 鈥減redators of press freedom鈥� report this year, the first European head of state to appear on the list.
RSF cited Fidesz鈥檚 control of 鈥�80 per cent鈥� of Hungarian media through either direct ownership or the Kesma Foundation, a pro-government media conglomerate that 鈥渙wns approximately 500 pro-government鈥� outlets. The prime minister鈥檚 office EU funds spent on media advertising.
鈥淭he government is buying up the public sphere鈥� and using state funds for advertising 鈥渨ith the aim of repeating and intensifying the actual government messages,鈥� Attila Batorfy, a master teacher of journalism, media studies and information graphics at Budapest鈥檚 E枚tv枚s Lor谩nd University and member of Hungarian investigative outlet Atlatszo鈥檚 data team, told Hatewatch.
鈥淭he opposition simply can't challenge this enormous amount of public money on subsidized speech.鈥�
Tam谩s Bodoky, editor-in-chief of Hungary鈥檚 premier investigative outlet , told Hatewatch, 鈥淭he government鈥檚 media policy is the complete opposite of what I would call openness, it is honestly totalitarian.鈥�
A 鈥榩olite鈥� pushback
While Hungary鈥檚 recent anti-人兽性交 legislation raised controversy, Orb谩n first gained far-right acclaim for his hardline immigration policy.
In 2015, 聽arrived at Hungary鈥檚 borders, the entry point to the European Union for those coming through Serbia. They fled war-torn areas in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.
Hungary initially allowed passage to asylum seekers but quickly passed punitive laws in 2015 to discourage asylum seekers. These included bills created migrant detention 鈥渢ransit zones鈥� the European Court of Justice later 聽were 鈥減rison-like,鈥� and approved the construction of a border wall that year.
Carlson applauded Hungary鈥檚 immigration policies during his MCC speech.
鈥淚 was impressed personally by the response of your government to the 2015 migrant crisis. Hungary stood alone, essentially, in saying, 鈥楴o thanks.鈥� And that struck me as a totally legitimate thing to do,鈥� Carlson said at the top of his speech.
Carlson hosted his program from Hungary during his stay. He aired footage of his trip in a military helicopter to the Serbian-Hungarian border, where he witnessed Hungarian law enforcement pushback two men to Serbia.
Carlson said the border was 鈥渃lean鈥� and there were 鈥渘o scenes of human suffering, because it was under control.鈥�
During his MCC speech, Carlson recounted watching Hungarian border guards apprehend two men who 鈥渨ere led politely out and brought to the other side. 鈥� The whole thing took 30 minutes.鈥�
Andr谩s L茅derer, senior advocacy officer at the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the only group in Hungary that provides free, high-level legal advice to refugees, told Hatewatch this was 鈥渁n unlawful pushback of two Syrian nationals.鈥�
The advocacy officer explained the Hungarian Constitution 鈥減rohibits collective expulsions,鈥� as does the European Convention on Human Rights, the 1951 Refugee Convention, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European asylum acquis.
Despite Carlson鈥檚 depiction of a 鈥減olite鈥� interaction, many 鈥渙f these measures are 聽committed by law enforcement agents. Regardless of the violence, the measure is unlawful,鈥� L茅derer said.
Fox News did not respond to Hatewatch鈥檚 request for comment on Carlson鈥檚 appearance in Hungary.
Legislating against Soros
Orb谩n justifies the hardline stance by calling immigration a threat to Hungary鈥檚 ethnic makeup. 鈥淲e do not want our own color, traditions and national culture to be mixed with those of others,鈥� he 聽in a 2018 speech.
Orb谩n blamed Soros, who is Jewish, for financing 鈥減ro-migration鈥� organizations. Fidesz passed the 鈥溾�� laws in 2017 and 2018. These laws forced NGOs with foreign funding to register and levied a 25% tax on foreign donations to NGOs that total more than $24,000. He also called refugees 鈥淢uslim invaders鈥� in a 2018 .
White nationalists view the replacement theory as reality. They chanted,聽鈥淛ews Will Not Replace Us鈥� in Charlottesville, Virginia, ahead of the deadly 2017 white nationalist rally.
Carlson airs similar extremist rhetoric on his program. He defended the 鈥済reat replacement鈥� on April 8 of last year. He blamed Democrats for ongoing efforts to 鈥渃hange the electorate,鈥� claiming immigrants gaining the right to vote disenfranchises him.
Prager, who is Jewish, did not speak about immigration in his public MCC appearances. But Prager appeared on far-right racist Stefan Molyneux鈥檚 聽in 2017 to speak about the need for God in morality, wherein Prager highlighted that there were more mosques than churches being built in Europe.
Prager responded that he does not see why 鈥渙ne would not infer that more mosques than churches have been built in Western European countries,鈥� given that 鈥渧ast majority of Western Europeans is secular, especially among the young.鈥� Prager cited data from Pew Research and the European social survey conducted between 2014 and 2016.
Regarding his interview on Molyneaux鈥檚 podcast, Prager said, 鈥淭here is virtually no one, right or left, whose podcast I would refuse to go on. I want to spread American and Judeo-Christian values to every audience possible.鈥�
Orb谩n faces the toughest election challenge of his ten-year rule in 2022. All major opposition parties have united on a single ticket to face Fidesz. Politico鈥檚 poll 聽as of December.
Hunyadi acknowledged the concerns over Fidesz losing its supermajority.
鈥淭he invitation of Prager and Carlson,鈥� along with Bannon and Yiannopoulos, 鈥渉ad benefits for the domestic context: Hungarian voters could experience that leading U.S. ideologues visit the country, talk like PM Orb谩n and praise him and his politics, 鈥� Hunyadi said.
Still, Hunyadi sees favorable conditions for Orb谩n in the years ahead.
鈥淚mmigration is likely to play a crucial role in the upcoming years and probably decades due to the political turmoil and unpredictabilities in the Middle East and Africa and the effects of climate change,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 expect him to find opportunities to present himself as the vanguard of the global hard right-wing populist movement in the future as well.鈥�
Photo illustration by 人兽性交
