Outlets that follow a pro-Orban line have pushed US President Donald Trump's uncorroborated claims of fraud
BUDAPESTHungarian pro-government media outlets pushed unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in the US election on Friday (Nov 6), with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban also appearing to lend credence to the allegations.
"Huge tension in America over the several signs pointing to fraud," said a headline in the main pro-Orban news portal Origo.hu.
Outlets among the large swathes of Hungary's public and private media sector that follow a pro-Orban line have pushed a similar angle since Thursday, echoing US President Donald Trump's uncorroborated claims of fraud as his Democratic opponent Joe Biden closes in on victory.
An interviewer on public radio on Friday asked Mr Orban to comment on claims made by the Trump campaign that some votes had been cast on behalf of dead people.
Mr Orban replied the US can "no longer criticise others after such an election".
"If it happened in Hungary, what is happening there now, the sky would have fallen downit's unthinkable," he said.
Describing Mr Trump as "Hungary's friend", he stated that Hungary-US bilateral and economic relations have been in the "best shape ever" since Mr Trump came to power.
"I've always stood beside President Trump," he said.
In 2016, Mr Orban was the first European premier to endorse Mr Trump, and backed him for re-election in September.
When he visited Washington the previous year, Mr Trump praised the Hungarian as a leader "respected all over Europe" whose anti-immigration stance kept his country safe.
In contrast, Mr Biden the previous month cited Hungary while criticising Mr Trump's foreign policy.
"You see what's happened in everything from Belarus to Poland to Hungary, and the rise of totalitarian regimes in the world.. this president (Mr Trump) embraces all the thugs in the world," he said during an election campaign event.
The Obama administration, in which Mr Biden served as VP, had given Mr Orban the cold shoulder and warned against his clampdown on the judiciary, press, and civil society organizations.
The Obama administration also banned some Hungarian officials from entering the US over corruption allegations.