Péter Magyar is Plagued by Audio Leaks. Will Anybody Care?
Recent audio recordings have emerged about Péter Magyar, aiming to discredit him. Yet, no one seems to care.
The Sunday before last, the leader of the Hungarian Opposition Péter Magyar organised a press conference where he declared his knowledge about an imminent series of audio leaks with compromising material concerning him. He also stated that these leaks were recorded illegally and the Hungarian government utilised the state secret services to spy on its opponents. He also said that his ex-girlfriend, Evelin Vogel, is demanding HUF 30m (around EUR 73,500) so that she does not leak other voice recordings. Magyar also claimed that the recordings were modified and edited with the help of AI and added that Vogel is on Fidesz's payroll to leak recordings.
The Hungarian government, of course, denied any involvement. Last week, however, several recordings emerged of conversations between Vogel and Magyar which were recorded during the European Election campaign over the spring/early summer. Vogel herself was involved in the early days of the organisation of the Tisza Party but she and Magyar publicly announced their breakup shortly after the campaign.
In these conversations, Magyar said that the supporters who attended his rallies were stinky and had foul breath and jokingly suggested that he would tell grandmothers to buy a new grandchild in case the original one emigrated to the West. He also called some of his supporters part of a “pensioner commando.” In another set of recordings, Magyar is overheard saying that “his MEPs” are braindead and untalented, states that one of the Tisza MEPs, Viktor Weisz, is “completely useless as a politician,” and describes a scenario in which he appears to have used abusive language against one of the MEPs.
After the leaks, Tisza’s former treasurer Henrik Hanzel leaked another audio recording between him and Vogel, in which Vogel did indeed ask for HUF 30m to stay quiet. In retaliation, Vogel’s team came out with another, extended recording of the same conversation in which Vogel suggests that Magyar trades on the stock exchange with the use of insider information. Finally, just yesterday, another set of leaks emerged in which Magyar labels independent media assholes and says that he “does not give a shit” about them.
Are these audio recordings going to have a meaningful effect on Péter Magyar’s political career? As things stand, not very likely. For one, the recordings that emerged so far, while they obviously do not paint Magyar in a favourable light, do not include anything especially scandalous by Hungarian standards. Sure, it is not nice for a politician to say that his supporters smell, or that he does not give a shit about the media. But it is not exactly a nuclear bomb either.
The media comment might even make Magyar more popular in the current international zeitgeist. And the Hungarian electorate has forgiven much greater crimes in the past 14 years than a politician saying that some supporters smell. Besides, because of the low trust levels and zero social cohesion in Hungary, the initial reaction to the comment by most is that Magyar just reflects how Hungarians talk about each other in general.
Arguably, the most serious recording concerns the competency of the Tisza MEPs. Obviously, it is not a great sign for a party’s leader to call his own team “brain dead.” However, the Hungarian public knows so little about the Tisza MEPs and knows that however many individuals will join Tisza, the party is and will always remain a one-man show.
This brings us to a broader point: these audio recordings have not uncovered anything the Hungarian public has not already known and have not contradicted anything Magyar says about himself. Everyone in Hungary knows that Tisza is a one-man show, everyone in Hungary knows that Magyar is not a very likeable person, and everyone in Hungary knows that Magyar’s attitude to the press is confrontative, to say the least. There is only one thing Péter Magyar offers and promises and there is one thing people vote for him for: the hope that he can beat Fidesz.
The progressive Hungarian intelligentsia, ideologically committed anti-Orbánist and economically struggling non-alligned voters all accept that Magyar is a questionable character, that he may not share their ideological views, or that he does not play politics in an honourable way. The long-term impacts of ignoring all this can be quite dangerous, and for the future of Hungarian liberalism, socialism, or progressivism in general can be quite dire. The Hungarian intelligentsia will, at some point, best contemplate this.
However, for now, the golden ticket Magyar offers the Hungarian population is that he will beat Orbán. Nothing else. As long as the leaks don’t damage this idea, it is very unlikely that they will have a considerable impact on his polling numbers. If a leak that suggests otherwise emerges (something on the line of Magyar saying that he would be willing to do a deal with Orbán in parliament for the right price), things will change.
For now, the only drawback this might cause Magyar is that the leaks distract from other topics he likes to thematise Hungarian public discourse with (which he has done remarkably well since his emergence). It also gives Fidesz a breathing space from his constant attacks. This means that with this and the election of Donald Trump, Fidesz is having an acceptable month for the first time since January. That does not mean, however, that Viktor Orbán is no longer in the worst position he’s ever been in since coming to power in 2010. Eventually, if the leaks continue to be fairly mild, the population (and the press) will stop paying attention to them completely.
Ábel Bede
Trump said he could shoot someone dead on Fifth Avenue, and it would not hurt his popularity. Among much of the roughly 45-50% of the public that regularly votes against FIDESZ, I feel Magyar is moving into similar territory. Not to mention the cynicism is so high, many (rightly or wrongly) will assume any damaging leak was just manufactured by Rogan & company.
Wonderful that Vogel was too dense to edit the recording herself, instead employing AI the use of which should throw this" evidence" out of the court of public opinion. And, because every human knows that private conversations that reflect frustration with others, no matter how heated, ardent, or damaging cant be taken too seriously because the words rarely reflect wrong doing or effect policy or actions. Recordings like this are an entertaining side-show however, which keeps the media busy and bores serious people. I am no fan of Peter Magyar, who I think is an opportunist without a real job.