Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 1999 until 2008. He was also the Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Barack Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
Biden campaign calls out Trump for meeting with Viktor Orbán
The Biden-Harris reelection campaign issued a statement on Monday criticizing former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, for hosting anti-LGBTQ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend. “To remind everyone,” the statement reads in part, “Viktor Orbán opposes democracy and LGBTQ rights, has cracked down on the judiciary and press in his country, and rigged his political system to keep himself in power.” The campaign noted Trump was effusive in his praise for Orbán, about whom he said “there’s nobody that’s better, smarter, or a better leader,” echoing comments about the Hungarian leader that he made at a rally in January.
The statement also drew attention to reports that Trump, during their meeting, promised “that he would not give a “penny” to Ukraine in their fight against Russian thug Vladimir Putin – giving Putin the greatest gift he could hope for.” President Joe Biden also took aim at his 2024 rival over the weekend. “You know who he’s meeting with today down at Mar-a-Lago?” Biden told supporters at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. “Orbán of Hungary, who stated flatly he doesn’t think democracy works, he’s looking for dictatorship.” When Trump held a meeting with Orbán at the White House in May 2019, The New York Times noted that during their presidencies, George W.
Bush had “dodged” and Barack Obama had “refused” to invite the far-right prime minister to the Oval Office. Since he took office in 2010, Orbán’s policies concerning LGBTQ rights have been informed by his belief that they are “not compatible with Christian values.” In 2020, he ended Hungary’s legal recognition of transgender people.
The following year, his party proposed legislation to censor “pro-LGBT+ content” in movies, books, and public advertisements – which earned comparisons to Russia’s infamous law against so-called “homosexual propaganda.” And in 2023, Hungary’s parliament passed legislation that allows citizens to
