Hungary Scrubs Criticism of China’s Xi Jinping From Tucker Carlson’s Interview With Orban

Tucker Carlson trip to Hungary to promote its populist leader took an awkward turn when a transcript of his interview was censored by the Hungarian government.

Carlson spent the week filming his Fox News show from Budapest, where he interviewed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, toured a border fence built to keep out migrants, and spoke at an event funded by the Orban government.

The Fox News host also touted Hungary, under Orban’s illiberal rule, as a “freer” place than the United States.

Carlson’s characterization of Hungary and its ruler was put to the test on Friday when all mention of Chinese leader Xi Jinping was scrubbed from a transcript of the Carlson-Orban interview that was sent to reporters.

During the interview, Carlson lamented to Orban that U.S. President Joe Biden has never referred to Xi as a “totalitarian thug” despite the fact that he has “murdered many of his political opponents.”

New York Times reporter Benjamin Novak noticed that Carlson’s criticism of Xi was cut from a transcript sent to reporters by Hungarian officials.

Politico Europe’s Playbook newsletter reported that after Novak’s tweet, officials sent out a full transcript of the interview.

Orban has pushed Hungary towards closer ties with China, seeking out loans from Beijing for projects including a railway to Belgrade and a campus of a Shanghai university in Budapest. In recent months, Hungary twice blocked an EU statement condemning China’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.