MSZP accused of spreading fake news

A pro-government commentator mocks the opposition for not even being able to forge proper fake videos.

Last week, MSZP MP Lajos Korózs posted a video interview on Facebook with a woman who claimed to work as an ambulance nurse. The woman alleged that nine out of the ten patients she had taken care of died after they were sent home from hospitals emptied to prepare for a surge in the coronavirus pandemic which never happened. The Emergency Rescue Service said that the woman was not their employee, and she was not even a registered health care worker. The MSZP deleted the video from all its platforms and launched an internal party investigation. initial press reports suggest the party did not check her credentials, as she was willing to speak on camera and give her real name (similar allegations have been published in the past weeks, but usually involving people who asked for their identities to be protected).The Ministry of Human Resources announced that it will sue for misleading or false information that hinder the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

Magyar Nemzet’s Zsolt Bayer ridicules the MSZP and in general the opposition for what he calls its failed effort to weaken the government’s credibility through fake news. The fiercely pro-government commentator suggests that the opposition has in past years tried to gain popularity through forged video footage (see BudaPost October 2013). Bayer likens these efforts to ‘political pornography’, and mocks the opposition for being unable to even forge such videos in a professional manner.

Tags: coronavirus, MSZP