Election Interference for Thee, Not for Me

For all the storm and strife about foreign governments interfering in American elections, it is indisputable that America does it all the time, and anybody who knows anything about how things work in the world knows that every government with foreign interests will try to manipulate the behavior of other countries. 

It’s hardly a conspiracy theory to note that this practice has been going on for centuries. 

I fail to get too outraged at this practice (I am generally annoyed, though, because it is usually done to benefit governments that the Establishment likes much more than I do). It’s not that interfering in our elections is a good thing, but rather that it is an inevitable fact of life in the modern world. 

Ironically, interfering in American elections is much more difficult than in most other countries. It is too expensive, for one thing, and the media landscape is far too big and chaotic to have much success. There is so much money in politics that having much of an impact with a budget much less than hundreds of millions or billions of dollars would be nearly impossible. 

Either that, or getting control of the media. 

The US often does the latter because, unlike most countries, we have nearly unlimited budgets and sufficient sway to change how Establishment institutions in foreign countries can be manipulated. 

NEW: Biden’s State Department is giving taxpayer dollars to Soros-funded groups to interfere in Hungarian elections. Those groups are giving the funds to Hungarian media outlets critical of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Details here: https://t.co/B8UzCPJRm5

— Tom Olohan (@tolohan) February 12, 2024

That is exactly what the Biden administration is currently doing in Hungary. The Left is obsessed with getting rid of Orban, and the Biden State Department is funneling money through a Soros-funded organization to anti-Orban journalists and publications. 

The U.S. Department of State entrusted Soros-funded Ökotárs Foundation and media watchdog Mérték Media Monitor to hand over $320,000 in taxpayer dollars to 15 media outlets critical of the pro-freedom Hungarian government, according to NGO and government documents. European Parliament elections take place from June 6 to June 9. Similarly, Hungary will hold local elections on June 9. Hungary-based political analyst András László and Rod Dreher spread the news in Jan. 27 posts on X. 

László wrote that “left-wing NGOs announce which Hungarian media outlets will receive direct financing from the US Embassy. More than a DOZEN, a total of 15 media will receive US taxpayer money.” Echoing László, Dreher reacted to the news: “US taxpayers are funding anti government media in Hungary, a NATO ally.”

The Biden administration contracted Ökotárs and Mérték to identify and evaluate which Hungarian media outlets would receive the taxpayer-funded grants, a State Department document revealed. MRC Business verified the contract through information published by grants.gov, the online database of federal grants, as well as documents provided by Ökotárs and Mérték. 

If I were Hungarian, I would, of course, be outraged at this blatant election interference in my country, As an American I question the wisdom of doing so and am skeptical that putting in a more liberal government would be in our interests, but I would be a hypocrite if I pretended to be shocked at what the administration is doing. 

The Clinton Administration famously tried to help Shimon Peres beat Netanyahu in the 1996 elections, and he finally admitted it a few years back. Israel is one of the countries in which the US meddles all the time in electoral politics. 

Here in the United States, most of the focus is on Russian interference in our elections, but that is a red herring. It is China that has substantial influence here, not the Russians. The Chinese have more money to spend in our politics and are much better at doing so. 

Election interference is a fact of life in international politics. It’s not a good thing but it isn’t going away. In the case of the US’ attempts to interfere in other elections, it has had a very mixed track record. But any fake outrage from our Establishment is a joke. 

The big problem is that our media does a horrible job covering it. Don’t expect the government or the politicians to tell you the truth about it–unfortunately the MSM won’t either. 

If I were Viktor Orban, I would latch onto this report and ride it for all its worth politically. Hungarians will, as with Americans, rebel at the idea that other countries should determine their policies. Ultimately citizens should do their best to look out for propaganda, because the powers that be won’t do the job for you.