Trump Deploys Two of His Most Dangerous Habits in a Single Sentence

During a recent rally in New Hampshire, Donald Trump demonstrated two of his most alarming and frequent habits—praising right-wing authoritarian leaders and critically misspeaking—in a single sentence.

During a particularly meandering tangent, Trump said he was “honored” by Viktor Orbán, whom Trump described as the leader of Turkey.

Except, of course, he’s not: Orbán is the leader of Hungary; Turkey is led by another right-wing authoritarian, Tayyip Erdoğan.

Though the two employ a similar playbook and each enjoy Trump’s public support, Orbán and Erdoğan aren’t even neighbors—Turkey and Hungary are separated by more than 1,500 kilometers and at least three other countries.

Anyone in need of an additional bit of trivia to distinguish these two men might appreciate knowing that Orbán, not Erdoğan, was a keynote speaker at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference and has become the more prominent darling among Republican politicians and right-wing thought leaders in America.

Besides betraying his deep-seated obsession with foreign despots, Trump’s gaffe is merely the latest in a longstanding but ever-increasing series: within the past few weeks, he’s:

• Declared that he defeated President Obama in the 2016 election instead of Hillary Clinton,

• Asserted that he’s running against Obama again in 2024 instead of President Biden,

• Claimed Biden will lead America into World War II, which would require time travel,

• Confused Jeb Bush with his older brother, President George W. Bush,

• Suggested consumers need identification to purchase bread at a grocery store,

• Proclaimed that windmills are responsible for an increasing number of dead whales

At a time when both right wing and mainstream media are hyper-fixating on President Biden’s gaffes and stutter, perhaps this will motivate them to hold Donald Trump to the same standard.

Though, for what it’s worth, Joe Biden doesn’t appear to be enamored with—nor does he seek to emulate—authoritarians.