Trump and Clinton in the spotlight

A left-wing columnist thinks that although Prime Minister Orbán is leaning towards Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton is preferable for the world because she is moderate and experienced. A conservative commentator believes that both are poor candidates, but Trump may perhaps change American foreign policy for the better.

In Népszabadság, Gábor Horváth compares the Clinton-Trump duel to the opposition between Chancellor Merkel of Germany and PM Orbán of Hungary. In both cases, he writes, the choice is between a man and a woman, and in both cases the woman represents ‘inclusion, tolerance and solidarity’, while both men embody ‘fear, rejection and isolation’. Horváth believes that those who believe in mankind, hope and progress, will side with one and those who have faith in raw power will follow the other. In any case, he suggests, it would be too risky to entrust an ‘ignorant beginner’ with the keys to America’s nuclear arsenal.

In Magyar Nemzet, Gábor László Zord thinks American voters will have to choose the lesser evil in November. He suggests that in her years as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s performance was pathetic, and she was a dedicated representative of the US policy that caused disaster in the Middle East and transformed Russia into an enemy. Trump, on the other hand, has no political record and may be a liability with his hands on ‘the nuclear suitcase’. As for Hungary, he continues, she would need an American president who does not stoke conflicts further and who avoids the fumbling approach of the incumbent president. Despite all his reservations about Donald Trump, Zord believes the Republican candidate is more likely to opt for change. However, he concludes, Donald Trump’s chances of outplaying the ‘military-industrial-intelligence complex’ will not be any greater than those of Barack Obama.

Tags: foreign affairs, Hillary Clinton, Merkel, Orbán, Trump