Corruption Toppled Viktor Orbán. Could Donald Trump Be Next?
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2026
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
The Washington Roundtable discusses how the anti-corruption candidate Péter Magyar brought down Hungary's autocratic Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, and what implications that victory holds for the far-right movements around the world that Orbán helped embolden. The panel is joined by Kim Lane Scheppele, a Princeton professor who has lived in Hungary and studied its democratic backsliding. Together, they unpack how Magyar’s campaign succeeded by connecting Orbán’s corruption to the everyday struggles of Hungarians, and how that approach might inform Democratic strategy in the 2028 Presidential election.
This week’s reading:
- “America’s Orange Jesus,” by Susan B. Glasser
- “The Hungarian Election Shows That Even Strongmen Can Lose,” by Andrew Marantz
- “TMZ Gets Political,” by Paula Mejía
- “Who Is the U.S. Negotiating with in Iran?,” by Sudarsan Raghavan
- “ ‘The Peace President’ Gets Belligerent with Iran and the Pope,” by Robin Wright
- “How Much Has the War in Iran Depleted the U.S. Missile Supply?,” by Garrett M. Graff
- “How Project Maven Put A.I. Into the Kill Chain,” by Gideon Lewis-Kraus
- “The Extremes of Israeli Public Opinion,” by Isaac Chotiner
The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.
Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What is your favorite Trump Pope meme? |
| 0:04.3 | Oh my God, they are so good. |
| 0:06.8 | I kind of like the one of Jesus holding up his fingers and the caption says, |
| 0:13.1 | this is my eye doctor asking me how many fingers I see. |
| 0:18.0 | That was pretty good. |
| 0:19.0 | I was going to say I happen to like the one of all the doctors in the pit |
| 0:22.2 | dressed in their white ribs and red sash. That has a nice touch about it. Well, you know, it's backfired for Donald Trump a bit when no less than Sarah Palin is tweeting a picture of Jesus saying, it's time to put down the phone. |
| 0:38.1 | Wow. |
| 0:39.7 | If you've lost Sarah Palin, folks. |
| 0:42.3 | Well, I feel like this episode, it's a successor to last week's episode, guys. |
| 0:49.6 | That's true. You're right. |
| 0:50.3 | Because last week we talked about J.D. Vance, question mark, will he manage to miraculously do what others have failed to do and solve the 47-year impasse between the United States in Iran in his peace talks in Pakistan? |
| 1:07.2 | Question mark, will he manage to rescue the Hungarian would be autocrat, Victor Orban, |
| 1:13.5 | from what appeared to be almost certain defeat by his intervention, question mark, answer to both, |
| 1:20.7 | no. |
| 1:21.6 | So consider this J.D. Vance, part two. |
| 1:29.3 | Welcome to the political scene from The New Yorker, a weekly discussion about the big questions in American politics. |
| 1:35.3 | I'm Susan Glasser and I'm joined by my colleagues Jane Mayer and Evan Osnos. |
| 1:39.3 | Hey, Jane. |
| 1:39.9 | Hey, Susan. |
| 1:40.7 | Hey, Evan. Great to be with you. |
| 1:42.1 | Good morning, guys. |
... |
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