Viktor Orban was apparently bewildered not to find his “good friend” Donald Trump on the platform
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban joined Twitter on Monday, having opened an official account that already has over 40,000 followers. It will be used to post English-language information about the PM’s work aimed at an international audience, his press chief Bertalan Havasi said.
Orban so far follows just 42 other accounts, which include Pope Francis, political leaders such as Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as several media personalities, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson and psychologist Jordan Peterson.
“Let’s make some noise!” wrote Orban in his first post on the platform, which quickly garnered more than 7,000 likes and 1,800 retweets. In typical Twitter fashion, many commenters took to bashing the politician and criticizing him for maintaining a more neutral stance against Russia than other EU leaders amid the conflict in Ukraine.
Orban’s press chief told Hungary’s MTI news agency that the purpose of the account is to inform people internationally about the PM’s work.
Jó napot kívánok.
Please be aware, that twitter is #toxic – no matter on which side you are, or what you’re doing. People LOVE to hate here, sadly.
— 𝔍𝔬𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔫𝔞-𝔍𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔠𝔞 OFS (@Proficisci90) October 10, 2022
Orban, who describes himself in his bio as a “freedom fighter, husband, father, grandfather and PM of Hungary,” finished off his first day on Twitter by jokingly inquiring about the whereabouts of former US president Donald Trump’s account.
“After my first day on Twitter, there’s one question on my mind. Where is my good friend, Donald Trump?” he wrote, attaching the famous gif of a confused John Travolta.
After my first day on Twitter, there’s one question on my mind. Where is my good friend, @realDonaldTrump? pic.twitter.com/vCzWfAy2sh
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) October 11, 2022
Trump was kicked off Twitter in early 2021 following the January 6 Capitol Riot in Washington DC. The former president was accused of inciting violence and was banned by nearly all major social media platforms as soon as he left the White House.
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Some on Twitter immediately began questioning if it was only a matter of time before Orban himself followed in Trump’s footsteps and found himself censored or booted off the platform, given his notoriety among the Western establishment media, who regard him as an authoritarian leader and too sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin.