The leader of a democracy overpowers many of the country’s institutions that could oppose him: the media, the universities, the courts. He encourages rich allies to buy big media companies and hobble independent journalism. In its place, he tells the population lies, about immigrants, the economy, and who their real enemies are. He does all of this openly and proudly, prompting other aspiring autocrats to emulate him.

This is a description of Viktor Orbán, the longtime prime minister of Hungary who lost reelection this past weekend. Besides being one of his key emulators, Donald Trump is also an enthusiastic supporter. Vice President Vance stumped for Orbán during the Hungarian election, and MAGA intelligentsia have pilgrimaged to Budapest for inspiration on how to reshape national institutions and the culture in their own image.

Until the day they voted, many Hungarians found it hard to believe that Orbán would be ousted, despite what independent polls showed. Autocrats have a way of seeming inevitable. Nonetheless, Orbán lost to opposition leader Péter Magyar by too large a margin to paper over with propaganda. Magyar had appealed to the people directly, traveling the country, avoiding culture-war issues, and talking mostly about economic hardship. Orbán swiftly conceded, and overnight, Hungarians were dancing in the streets.

Whatever happens next in Hungary, Orbán’s downfall contains obvious warnings for MAGA and Trump: Propaganda has its limits. Concerns about affordability are real. True democracy can reassert itself in a single election. Reality can bend only so far. In this week’s Radio Atlantic, the Hungarian journalist Veronika Munk shares her view from the streets of Budapest. And the Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum, who covers autocracy, democracy, and Europe, explains why the election is a turning point for world politics.

The following is a transcript of the episode:

[Music]

Hanna Rosin: Hi!

Veronika Munk: Okay. Nice to meet you! Hi.

Rosin: Nice to meet you.

Rosin: Last weekend, Hungarian journalist Veronika Munk—

Munk: —and I’m a journalist at Denník N.

Rosin: —was in Budapest covering the election between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the opposition leader, Péter Magyar.

Orbán had been in power for the past 16 years, had changed the country from the top down—

Munk: They changed everything in the country to favor themselves.

Rosin: —the media, universities, the courts—in a way that certain global leaders who aspired to that kind of grand power admired and marveled at.

President Trump: And he’s done a fantastic job, is a very powerful man within his country, but he’s also beloved. They love Viktor. And people that know him—

Rosin: Vice President J. D. Vance—

Vice President Vance: I got a good signal here.

Rosin: —had even come to the country to give a stump speech for Orbán.

Vance: It’s ringing. It’s progress.

Rosin: Trump phoned it in from home.

Vance: Hello, Mr. President, how are ya?

Trump (on speakerphone): Hi. Hey, J. D., could you give me a second to just—

[Sounds of crowd cheering]

Rosin: And then on Sunday night, as the election results started to roll in—

Munk: It was a record turnout, like, absolute historic high.

Rosin: —Veronika almost didn’t believe what she was seeing.

Munk: Even for me, who is a news junkie and this is my profession, it was super hard to believe that it can happen.

It felt like the Orbán regime will be always here and he will always be ruling the country.

But I was wrong.

George Stephanopoulos (from ABC’s Good Morning America): Back overseas, in a major defeat for President Trump’s closest ally in Europe, Hungarian voters ousted longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was also close to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

[Sounds of chanting]

Munk: I was on the streets of Budapest. I was in the middle of the mass. I’m sure that you saw the pictures, that thousands of Hungarians were dancing and celebrating and crying on the streets, hugging each other—