John Avlon: Tucker Carlson’s Hungary Coverage Is an Effort to ‘Normalize’ Autocracy

EXCERPT:

AVLON: "Well, it’s an attempt to open the Overton window to basically say democracy is not an essential component to freedom and security. And this is part of — what makes it dangerous is it’s part of a general effort to normalize the Orban regime, which is an autocratic regime, which has, as you’ve just heard, restricted freedoms on almost every front. But under the auspices of trying to defend traditional values, anything is excused. And this effort we’ve seen to sort of diminish the importance of majoritarian democracy by nationalist conservatives could not be more dangerous. It draws a direct line between Tucker’s infomercial for Hungary over the last week and what we’re learning about Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the election and the people who tried to normalize both. That is why you have to keep an eagle eye on this because if more folks — if folks fly the American flag and think of themselves as patriots, you cannot do so in good conscience while also believing that democracy is overrated and should be restricted in an attempt to hold onto power. Those two things are opposites and we need to educate folks about that, because that’s what makes America different."