Fidesz politicians react to shooting of Charlie Kirk

Leading politicians from Hungary’s governing parties have been reacting to the news of Charlie Kirk's death – the American conservative activist was shot on Wednesday while speaking at a university event in Utah.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán (no relation to the PM) was among the first to react from Hungary. In a post on X, he wrote: “May he rest in peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family in this time of grief.”

"A young, 32-year-old father became a victim of violence because of his political views and was shot at an open event in front of a large crowd. He was one of those who contributed to Donald Trump's victory last year, as he had bravely stood up to debate anyone to defend what he believed in: patriotic values. Our thoughts are with his family, and we share in their grief," Alexandra Szentkirályi wrote on her Facebook page. According to the president of Fidesz in Budapest, “this atrocity reminds us that we must not forget that, although we have different political views, we are all members of the same nation.”

In his Facebook post on Thursday, Fidesz's parliamentary group leader, Máté Kocsis wrote that "left-wing liberal aggression now has a fatality." According to Kocsis, Kirk was shot because of his opinions, and anyone "who is a sovereignist, opposes immigration, defends the traditional family model, is conservative, and does not parrot what liberal propaganda wants to hear or what it allows" can become a target. In his post, Kocsis also mentioned the "hot-headed" Péter Magyar, saying that it would be better if the Hungarian opposition politician and his party stopped “inciting a lynch mob mentality and legitimizing any form of violence.”

István Hollik, (KDNP) Fidesz’s communications director also reacted to the news of Kirk's death, writing, among other things: “Charlie Kirk was a Christian who believed in dialogue and the power of argument. He always stood up for freedom of speech and loved his country. Some couldn't stand this and shot him. Not even the life of a father is precious to them.”

According to Balázs Németh, the spokesperson for Fidesz’s parliamentary group: what happened proves that "there is no such thing as incitement and hate speech without consequences," meaning that it is not possible to joke about the execution of politicians on stage or to call people "parasites and rats" on political grounds without consequences.