Fidesz’s unforced errors could cost it the match

25 October 2025
Ildi Amon

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Fidesz is experiencing the most unusual feeling: Losing.

Multiple factors are at play — the weak economy, Péter Magyar’s skill — but a litany of truly bizarre unforced errors isn’t helping.

Over the past 18 months, shocked by Magyar’s unexpected and relentless rise, Fidesz has swung from flat-footed hesitation to rabid frenzy. And all along, the unforced errors have piled up.

While it’s still far from game, set, match, here are some of Fidesz’s most perplexing blunders — so far.

Running their own car off the road at Hatvanpuszta

I’m starting with this one because it’s funny and symbolic of Fidesz’s campaign. Independent politician Ákos Hadházy was driving away from the Orbán family estate at Hatvanpuszta after reporting on corruption there when security goons tried to run him off the road. The only problem? The goons ended up flipping their own car. With immense grace (and I’m sure a bit of schadenfreude), Hadházy kindly stopped and helped the trapped man out of the car.

See the video here.

Over-hyping the Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest

Understandably, Fidesz was excited when a Trump-Putin summit in Budapest was announced. Despite an altogether forgettable summit in Alaska just months prior, Fidesz was salivating at the fact that an Orbán-led peace summit could snatch them the election. The only problem? Within days, Trump “indefinitely” postponed it. Now, even if it does go ahead, it won’t have the same impact because it’s all looking a bit amateurish.

Inserting itself in yet another pedophile scandal

The Fidesz-KDNP coalition needlessly put itself at the centre of yet another pedophilia scandal when an opposition politician enquired about the identity of a high-ranking politician named “Zsolt” who allegedly abused kids in the town of Ózd.

Despite not being directly accused, KDNP leader and Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén stood up in parliament to vehemently deny that this mysterious “Zsolt” figure was him. The clip went viral, so many more people were left asking “Who is Zsolt?” and assuming that it must be Semjén than if he’d stayed silent. Even many Fidesz politicians were left with their heads in their hands wondering why he’d made such a rookie mistake.

To be fair, Semjén isn’t the only one needlessly putting Fidesz in the same sentence as sex crimes against those in its care. Just recently, celebrity Fidesz supporter Feró Nagy said that that pimping out young women who had been in state care was OK because they benefited financially.

Shameless displays of wealth by the Fidesz elite

Cost of living is a key issue in this election but Fidesz elites have not been able to restrain themselves from their shameless shows of wealth (luxury clothes, bags, cars, etc). It’s getting so bad that multiple Fidesz politicians have publicly complained that it’s bothering their constituents, and they should stop.

You’d think Orbán himself would show leadership. Over the summer, he made a big show of flying a budget airline with his wife, only to be caught getting off a private jet just days later.

Sidebar: His big tummy is not a good look. Politics is so visual, and it’s rather symbolic of his greed and excess.

Inadvertently orchestrating the biggest Pride in Hungary's history

Fidesz tried to ban Pride this year and Orbán dismissively said that organisers “need not bother.” The self-inflicted wound is that Fidesz inadvertently brought about the biggest Pride in Hungary’s history with more than one hundred thousand people turning out in a rebuke of Fidesz’s control freak tendencies.

Recognising its monumental unforced error, Fidesz later claimed it was all part of its “masterplan.” In reality, they’d tried to use Pride as a trap for Magyar, hoping he would attend and kick off a culture war. But Magyar didn’t fall for it, attendance was huge, and now the government is in the unenviable position of having to fine tens of thousands of Hungarians using dodgy face recognition technology. Silly, silly.

Teaming up with the incendiary rapper Dopeman

Dopeman was one of the celebrities Fidesz tapped to start a Digital Civic Circle (a Fidesz fan club). This was totally bewildering because Dopeman has spoken about punching women in the ribs and raps about it being OK to have sex with underage girls. For a “family-friendly” party, this was a strange unforced error and shows its laissez-faire attitude to child sexual abuse.

Orbán demoting himself to Social Media Coordinator

For the longest time, one of Orbán’s superpowers was his gravitas as a statesman and ability to stay above the fray while his propagandists and politicians did the day-to-day dirty work. But now, given the troubling polls and the little faith he seems to have in his colleagues, Orbán has decided to wade in personally. Astonishingly, he even spoke at a “social media training camp” where he was reduced to giving tutorials on where and how supporters should post/comment. It’s all so unbecoming.

Posting cringe videos ... including this spectacular one

In one of the most bizarre and avoidable incidents of the campaign so far, Fidesz politician Alexandra Szentkirályi posted an extraordinary video of a staff member lying in the boot of a car with his hands bound. She was trying to make a false point about Ukrainian human traffickers but instead she looked like an unserious person.

Speaking of Szentkirályi, she was such a bad candidate for Budapest mayor in 2024 that Fidesz withdrew her at the last minute for fear she would come third. It was another miscalc to even run her in the first place…

In any case, Fidesz knows it needs to engage online but it can’t quite figure out how. For example, goofy videos like this only make young people cringe while devaluing Fidesz in the eyes of those who say “at least they can govern.”

Orbán calling his opponents bugs

Orbán had his Hillary Clinton “basket of deplorables” moment when he called fellow Hungarians “stink bugs” (“poloska”) and that the opposition was as much a part of the nation as the “bad fate” (“balsors”) referred to in the national anthem. These are the kind of errors that not only solidify the Tisza bloc but are a permanent stain on Orbán’s legacy.

Later Orbán tried a more conciliatory tactic saying that opposition voters had simply been “misled” but this is a famously bad political strategy. All signs indicate that Orbán is losing his self-control, allowing Magyar to take the moral upper hand, while refusing to accept any responsibility for why voters are turning their backs on him in swathes.

Fidesz political director Balázs Orbán making fools out of Hungary's 1956 freedom fighters

In a totally unprompted misstep, Orbán’s political director (now campaign director) Balázs Orbán (no relation) painted himself as craven traitor and the 1956 freedom fighters as fools just days before ‘56 commemorations in 2024:

“Based precisely on 1956, we probably would not have done what President Zelensky did 2.5 years ago, because it is irresponsible, because one can see that he took his country into a war of defense. So many people have died, so much territory was lost, and I’ll say again, it is their right, it is their sovereign decision, they could choose to do it, but if they had asked us, we would not have recommended it, because of what happened in ’56. Because we have learned that one has to be cautious here, and one has to treat the very precious Hungarian lives with great care. They cannot simply be thrown to the wolves.”

It caused such an outrage that Viktor Orbán himself had to clarify that the comment was clumsy and that Fidesz would of course always defend the country. But it was too late, it allowed Magyar to position himself as the leader who wouldn’t capitulate.

Based on these comments, I can’t figure out if Fidesz is a giant red flag or a white flag.

The President calling himself a "bag of farts"

In what can only be described as a “brain fart,” in an interview the Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok volunteered that some people call him a bag of farts (“szatyor fing”). Literally no one had known this about him but, now, ask any Hungarian “Who’s a bag of farts?” they’ll tell you it’s the President. Whyyyyyy did he say thaatttt?

Sulyok made another big misjudgement in December 2024 when he pulled out of giving the traditional NYE presidential address. Of course, none other than Magyar swooped in and did it instead. Magyar’s speech got hundreds of thousands of views and it remains a mystery why Fidesz ceded this territory.

Orbán saying the economy would get off to a "flying start"

Surely (surely?) Orbán knows the state of the Hungarian economy intimately, so why say it’s going to get off to a “flying start” in 2025 when you know this can’t possibly be true? Within mere months the data and people’s wallets disproved this fanciful thinking. It made Orbán look like he’s lost all touch with reality and doesn’t have a handle on the economy.

Orbán supporting anti-Hungarian George Simion in Romanian elections

Strangely, Orbán went out of his way to support the anti-Hungarian George Simion in the Romanian presidential elections. It was a needless betrayal of Transylvanians that resulted in two unintended consequences: Magyar quickly launched an innovative 10-day walk to Romania giving him the chance to connect with a new set of voters, and Orbán was left with egg on his face because almost all Transylvanians voted for the other candidate Nicușor Dan.

Overly aggressive attacks on Péter Magyar and Tisza volunteers

In an unprecedented step, late last year Fidesz politician Tamás Menczer aggressively got in the face of Magyar just as the latter was trying to give Christmas gifts to disadvantaged kids. In front of the press pack, Menczer screamed, “It’s over, little guy!”

This was a first in Hungarian politics and really shocked people. It was an example of the government aggressively punching down on the little people, the opposition. It showed their desperation and frustration.

Later, there were several examples of Fidesz supporters violently attacking Tisza volunteers. For a political party trying to position itself as the party of peace, these episodes have been counterproductive: Tisza simply rose and rose in the polls. It turns out one likes Goliath punching down on David.

Orbán calling Magyar a "little rooster"

When Magyar organised a rally in the town of Kötcse to coincide with Fidesz’s annual strategy day there, Orbán dismissively called him a “little rooster.” This was a weird choice because there’s a famous Hungarian folk tale about a little rooster who finds a gem in the yard and is going to give it to a poor elderly lady when a greedy sultan steals it. The story goes that the brave little rooster manages to retrieve the gem by outsmarting the sultan and his guards. (Hint, Hint)

The story is obviously an allegory for Ottoman occupation of Hungary, and a story of victory over a stronger oppressor. Aaannd… like clockwork… Magyar was referring to Orbán as a Turkish sultan.

Orbán threatening his own supporters

At Fidesz’s Kötcse strategy day, Orbán issued a not-so-thinly-veiled threat about the need to campaign hard: “You know me, I’m not the kind of person who threatens or acts roughly, but nothing will be forgotten, everything will be noted and everything will be settled.”

Threats of retribution is classic Fidesz but they haven’t done it so publicly until now. These threats are not empty. Fidesz exerts a feudalistic grip over Hungarians through its network of mayors, oligarchs, public-private institutions etc where jobs, funding and opportunities are gotten in exchange for loyalty. The fact that Orbán is turning the screws on his own people so publicly indicates trouble in paradise.

Orbán's own daughter moving to the US

Fidesz loves to gleefully pronounce the “decline of the West” so you won’t believe the surprise when Orbán’s daughter moved her young family to the US this year. Clearly, the trend of Hungarians moving abroad has not escaped Orbán’s own family. Ráhel Orbán and her husband are coming under increasing scrutiny for their brazen self-enrichment so maybe they simply want to get away from that… but why did they move to, say, Moscow??

Fidesz losing its grip of both online and offline worlds

Tisza dominates social media. Magyar’s posts and videos get way more online engagement and dozens of grassroots “Tisza Sziget” fan club pages amplify the message. After about a year of bewilderment, Fidesz — the self-proclaimed part of peace — attempted to marshal support by launching a “Fight Club” where its ageing supporters were asked to argue online on its behalf. It was such a strange concept that they soon launched “Digital Civic Circles” instead. It all looked a bit confused.

In more bad news, Meta then banned political ads on Facebook and Instagram in the EU. This means that Fidesz’s online influencers, who largely relied on paid ads to bolster their reach, now have reduced influence.

And then… the real negligence… Fidesz is also ceding the offline world. Having won the online battle at the outset, Magyar turned his focus to going hyper local; pounding the pavement in town after town during back-to-back regional tours, meeting hundreds of everyday people. And Tisza volunteers started distributing the “Tisza Hang” newspaper.

Comparatively, no one from Fidesz is going out of their way to do genuine outreach at the local level. Even Fidesz politician, János Lázár, who tried to mimic Magyar’s in-person Q&As took all summer off on vacation.

Fidesz’s arrogance and complacency over the years meant it inadvertently ceded the online arena, and now while Magyar is meeting people in the smallest villages Fidesz is busy playing catch-up on Facebook.

Orbán avoiding the general public at all costs

From day one, Magyar has made it his point of difference that he is not afraid to meet the general public. Magyar has done hundreds of “ask me anything”-style Q&As, and even walking to and from events, dozens of people come up to him, take selfies, give him a gift, or even just pat him on the back.

On the other side, Orbán hasn’t done a single forum where the general public can ask him questions. Even when Orbán announced a quasi regional tour to take place before the end of 2025, it will only be to five locations and to an invite-only audience. Of course, never one to miss an opportunity, Magyar announced he would gather in those same five locations but hold open forums.

Nothing illustrated this difference between the two candidates better than the 2025 October 23 commemorations. Orbán swanned in at the last minute (in a convoy of protective vehicles) to give his speech on a stage high above the people while Magyar walked the entire 2.5-kilometre rally route with his supporters. Magyar then walked through the waiting crowd and gave a speech on a low podium surrounded by people. (Image above)

In a campaign where one candidate is hyper available, Orbán’s self-imposed distance is jarring. And by hiding away, Orbán looks afraid and aloof — not the man of the people / brave defender he’s always trying to present himself as.

Flirting with the idea of bringing back Judit Varga

Few moves could be more self-destructive for Fidesz than flirting with the return of Judit Varga… The former Justice Minister (and Magyar’s ex-wife) resigned in disgrace last year for her role in the clemency scandal whereby she approved clemency for someone who protected a pedophile.

The clemency scandal kicked off Magyar’s rise to begin with, so she’s basically one of the key reasons Fidesz is in this whole mess to begin with, but in a classic Fidesz mental lapse, they have been toying with bringing her back to annoy her ex-husband, Péter Magyar.

In a normal world this person would be persona non grata. But in Fidesz land, Orbán said she would have made a good Prime Minister and multiple Fidesz politicians spoke hopefully about her return.

By trying to rehabilitate her, they needlessly reinforced their links to pedophile scandals, and reinforced Fidesz’s strange propensity to leniency toward pedophiles and their collaborators.

At least some in Fidesz could see sense. When the government incredulously named Varga the Child Rights Patron of the National Mental Shield Program, Fidesz politician János Lázár said “poor kids” before adding “wherever Varga goes there’s trouble”. Hear, hear!

Underestimating Magyar then throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him

For the longest time, Fidesz assumed Magyar would fizzle out. They looked down on him; they could barely say his name. That was their first mistake.

So unaccustomed to facing real opposition, they were slow to realise the trouble they were in. But when they did, Fidesz went crazy.

He’s a puppet for Ukraine! For Soros! For the EU! For Manfred Weber! He’ll raise taxes! He’s a psycho! He’s a wife beater! He’s pro-war! He’s a commie! He’s a lefty! He’s skinny!

It’s all so tiresome.

The more they attack Magyar with false claims and fake AI photos, the more hysterical they look. It’s like the boy who cried wolf. While these lies worked for many years against many people, the effect has faded.

The more extreme they get with everyday voters (hacking Tisza’s databases, publishing the info, and harassing its supporters), the more people start to see Fidesz for what they are: an out-of-control threat to the nation.

The fracturing of Fidesz's famous unity and discipline

One of Fidesz’s great strengths has always been its unity and discipline, but lately cracks are appearing.

Fidesz politician János Lázár lambasted the Fidesz elite for living “luxuriously” and being like parasites. Others in Fidesz sniped back that Lázár shouldn’t have eyes on the Prime Ministership. Government spokesperson Eszter Vitályos said that Fidesz mayors were “whining” to which one mayor demanded an apology.

The finger pointing has begun with regard to the campaign as well. Orbán’s choice of new campaign director allegedly displeases people, and there are leaks of Fidesz politicians admitting that the country is not in good shape and that the campaign has issues. Orbán himself admitted that the Fidesz voter database “isn’t going well,” and Lázár said the chance of Fidesz winning is just 50-50.

It’s Politics 101 that confidence and message discipline are crucial. But as more and more Fidesz politicians start worrying about losing their seats—and those who profit from the party fear losing their special access—one can only imagine that more rats will start jumping.

Losing its grip on communications might be Fidesz’s most consequential unforced error yet.