Rep. Paul Gosar, Kari Lake to appear with far-right politicians in Hungary

Rep. Paul Gosar again is drawing criticism for affiliating with far-right wing politicians, this time in Hungary, where the Arizona Republican has traveled to present at a political conference headlined by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Kari Lake, the former TV news anchor who lost a bid for governor last year, and Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., also will attend CPAC Hungary, the second time the organization has hosted such an affair in Europe.

“Congressman Gosar is proud to speak at CPAC Hungary and respects the work Prime Minister Orbán has done for his country.  He looks forward to meeting with the Hungarian cabinet ministers and to learn more about Hungary’s successful family programs,” Gosar's spokesperson Anthony Foti said in a written statement to The Arizona Republic.

Gosar and Moore are the only sitting members of congress scheduled to attend. The speaker list describes Gosar as "the 'daredevil' of the U.S. Congress from Arizona."

Orban last year said that Europeans should not "become peoples of mixed race."

In a speech last year, Orban made comments about race that were widely condemned.

"This is why we have always fought: we are willing to mix with one another, but we do not want to become peoples of mixed-race," he said.

He also made a comment that was interpreted by some as a joke about German gas chambers. He was talking about a reduction in gas use when he said, "as I understand it, the past shows us German know-how on that."

The international group Reporters Without Borders lists him as a "press freedom predator," who since 2010 "has built a media empire whose outlets follow his party’s orders."

According to the group, the Fidesz ruling party has taken control of 80% of the country's media.

Also scheduled to attend the event is Herbert Kickl, Chairman of the Austrian Freedom Party. The party formed in 1956 and the first two leaders were former Nazi SS soldiers, though the party positions were not focused on identity politics until 1986, according to the Brookings Institution.

The Southern Poverty Law Center drew attention to Gosar's appearance at the Hungary event, noting that other controversial figures would be in attendance, including Jack Posobiec, a media personality who promoted the false "Pizzagate" conspiracy.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., who made unsuccessful bids for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012 and 2016, is on the schedule, as is President Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who is listed as making an online appearance.

"The American Conservative Union has for some time been looking for ways to bring CPAC to Europe, and over recent years, the conviction grew that Hungary, as one of the engines of Conservative resistance to the woke revolution, was the natural place for it," CPAC Hungary's website said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Politicians make appearance at CPAC Hungary event