When Hungary’s populist prime minister, Viktor Orban, joined a parade of foreign leaders in congratulating President-elect Joe Biden this week, he conspicuously failed to note that Biden had actually beaten his friend, President Donald Trump.
Like other right-wing populists, from Britain and Brazil to Poland and Germany, Orban was still coming to grips with the defeat of populism’s flamboyant standard-bearer in the White House. The Hungarian leader acknowledged that a victory by Trump was his "Plan A.” There wasn’t really a Plan B.
While Trump’s defeat is a stinging blow to his populist allies, its consequences for populism as a global political movement are more ambiguous. Trump, after all, won more votes than any American presidential candidate in history aside from Biden, which attests to the enduring appeal of his message.