What do the Wokebusters want to eradicate?

"A chain of alarm against the liberal, communist phenomenon of wokeism" – this is how Wokebusters, the new initiative announced by the Center for Fundamental Rights, the flagship of Fidesz-affiliated organizations masquerading as NGOs, but in reality funded by public funds, defines itself. Its leader, Miklós Szánthó, intends to unite "the global right-wing forces", because "wokeists are attacking God, country and family" in the same way all over the world. According to Szánthó, the ultimate goal is to create a "post-Christian, post-nationalist global village that transcends the laws of biology". But what are they talking about? Who is their US ambassador, Gavin Wax? Is this going to be an international version of Megafon? Is there a similar anti woke army anywhere else in the world?

The Wokebusters logo is a clear allusion to the eighties' blockbuster by the title of Ghostbusters, which had sequels as late as the 2020s. In spite of the film's title being Ghostbusters, in the story, the ghosts are actually not exterminated in New York, but are just rounded up and locked up. The Wokebusters have ambitious plans: they intend to act as a live information hub and an alarm chain. There will hold events, conferences, workshops, offer fellowships to young people, and in the autumn there will also be a world tour with destinations such as Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy, the United States and Israel.

But let's begin with what being woke is, or as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán referred to it in 2021: the "woke virus". Being the simple past tense form of the English verb "to wake", the term was originally used to describe becoming aware of the discrimination faced by blacks in America. Today, the word is used to describe an enlightened person who rejects racist social injustice. When speaking about fighting wokeism, Orbán and the Centre for Fundamental Rights use the term as a reference to their rejection of the phenomenon of demanding being PC, which they say makes it impossible to address certain issues. This is the negative context in which wokeism is more and more talked about, and it in essence includes the connotation of cancel culture. The latter is the stifling climate in which it is increasingly difficult to discuss social issues, because anyone who does not accept the social dogma that is proclaimed as progressive without question, is easily labelled as reactionary, racist, anti-human, victim-blaming, and being against women's equality.

The Wokebusters have actually been even more specific than this about what they will fight against, which issues they stand for or against, but in which 'the wokes' are oppressing them. According to their definition, they need to "drain the liberal swamp", which according to them includes:

• "the acceptance of international migration pacts,
• the blunders of the Biden administration,
• deep state interference in the presidential nomination process,
• and the European Parliament's declarations on gender".

They claim that they are familiar with their enemy because "all that has happened is that the ideology was renamed from Bolshevik to Bolshewoke", they wrote.

In his video introducing the Wokebusters, Miklós Szánthó gave an example of what they see as a problem and why they are needed. "They prosecuted Trump, then Soros’s newspapers portrayed him as Hitler, and then they tried to assassinate him. After that they removed Joe Biden so that the deep state could put another candidate in his place," he said, outlining their views, clearly not devoid of conspiracy theories. And as for Europe, he said that despite the rise of the right and the creation of the alliance of the Patriots in the European Parliament, they are being ignored. He then went on to add that under the leadership of re-elected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, “the incitement to war, the violent gender propaganda and the celebration of migration is bound to continue.”

Another element of the Hungarian Wokebusters' logo is the slogan "Drain the swamp!" It has been used since the 1980s in the United States as a reference to the need for reducing the lobbying activities of certain groups. Although several other US politicians have also used it, it was Donald Trump who utilised it the most when he tweeted "Drain the swamp" a total of 79 times during his 2016 campaign, and it has since become a hashtag in its own right. Viktor Orbán also used it in 2022 – as a reference to Brussels.

Where did all this come from? Who's all involved?

CPAC Hungary, first organized by the Centre for Fundamental Rights in 2022, is considered to be the foundation of the whole Wokebusters project. According to Szánthó and his colleagues, they have created a community that makes the inhabitants of "the woke swamp tremble". Several right-wing and far-right politicians have already given their names to the movement for "taking back the West", i.e. wokebusting. In addition to ministers of the Hungarian government (FM Péter Szijjártó, EU Affairs Minister János Bóka, and Minister of the PM's Office Gergely Gulyás, among others), the list includes the Spanish and Dutch far-right leaders Santiago Abascal and Geert Wilders, former prime minister of Slovenia Janez Jansa, former Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawieczki, and even Megafon's social media influencer Stefi Déri and many others.

Gavin Wax, president of the New York Young Republicans Club has also joined them. Wax's name is especially relevant because as their ambassador and spokesman, he has been given a prominent role in the Wokebusters project. Wax summarized what he thinks about political activism last year, which reveals quite a lot about his approach and what kind of "counter-attack" they are thinking about.

In 2022, Wax spoke of them wanting an "all-out war" and being prepared to fight a battle in every arena: in the media, in the courtroom, at the ballot box and in the streets, a rhetoric he returned to in a speech he gave last year. The pro-Trump activist wrote that "once President Trump takes office again, we will no longer play nice. It will be a time of reprisals. All those responsible for destroying our once great country will be held accountable for the years of baseless investigations, the lies of the government and the lies of the media".

It is no coincidence that Wax was entrusted with being an ambassador for the Wokebusters: the man who describes himself as a conservative activist, has been widely featured both in Hungarian pro-government media and in the American right-wing press. He has led the New York Young Republicans Club since 2019, and when introducing himself, he described the first CPAC Hungary (held in 2022), at which he spoke alongside Viktor Orbán, as "one of the biggest international right-wing jamborees". Wax and the organisation he heads spend a lot of time covering Hungary because they regard what is happening here as exemplary.

Wax and his organisation have never made it a secret that they very much support Viktor Orbán. In 2022 they urged Hungarians from America to vote for Viktor Orbán because "only he can save Western civilisation". They believe Hungary has shown that it has solutions to the West's problems. The Wokebusters' spokesman said that the Biden administration is currently "forcing a CIA scenario" on Hungary and is acting ideologically and as an activist instead of conducting diplomacy in an allied state.

They want to be present everywhere

It is not yet clear exactly what the main activities of the initiative funded from the budget of the Centre for Fundamental Rights will be, apart from organizing conferences, events and offering grants. But the definition of the organisation makes it sound a bit like Fidesz's Megafon. Miklós Szánthó said they will be a "rapid reaction political force". The term 'alert chain' also suggests that they will seek to be active. This is further evidenced by the fact that Szánthó said they will be present everywhere, both online and in real life. This will be followed by a "world tour" to encourage as many people as possible to join the effort.

Index was able to attend the press conference about the launch of Wokebusters, where it was announced that they will be the "messengers" of events that they believe the "liberal public" is failing to report. They already have their headquarters: the far from humble premises of the Centre for Fundamental Rights on Budakeszi út, in Budapest’s twelfth district.

Although there is no precedent for fighting "the woke enemy" in this form, some politicians and media personalities in the United States have long been "waging war" against it. Even though in America some of the "fight" is against other things than in Europe, the main message remains the same. For example, Florida governor Ron de Santis, who lost to Trump in the Republican presidential race, introduced a law called the "Stop WOKE act". The law, which was eventually partly overturned by the court stipulated, for example, how educational institutions should teach about race, rights, oppression and the founding of America.

The far-right celebrity reporter, Tucker Carlson who was fired from Fox News for his repeated lies, and who now publishes his own show on X, regularly interviews members of the Orbán government and was one of the guest speakers at the 2021 MCC Fest in Esztergom. On his shows, Carlson regularly talks about the threat of wokeism being much bigger than the threat from Russia. His arguments have included things such as: “Has Putin ever called you a racist? Has he ever threatened to fire me if I disagree with him?”