Rachel Maddow

fluff Viktor Orban right now to prop him up, because Hungary is having elections next month.

And if Viktor Orban allows those elections to go forward, it really looks like he's going to lose.

So our authoritarian government is trying to prop up his authoritarian government with these big public shows of support.

But because the news is the way it is right now, I also have to tell you that Russia is approaching this same task with a bit more style.

New reporting from the Washington Post this weekend.

Headline, to tilt Hungarian election, Russians proposed staging assassination attempt.

Quote, in the run-up to Hungary's pivotal election in April, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service last month began sounding the alarm over plummeting public support for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose friendly ties to Moscow have long given the Kremlin a strategic foothold inside NATO and the European Union.

Officers from the SVR, Russian military intelligence, suggested that drastic action might be necessary to help Orban, a strategy they called the Game Changer.

SVR operatives said the Game Changer would, quote, fundamentally alter the entire paradigm of the election campaign.

And what was the Game Changer?

The Game Changer was, quote, the staging of an assassination attempt on Viktor Orban.

Washington Post reporting that to try to help Orban in his election, the Russians have already mounted social media campaigns to boost Orban, much as they did for Donald Trump.

They've used fake allegations against Orban's political enemies.

They've used fake AI-generated videos to spread wild smears against opposition candidates.

But they also apparently were plotting to fake an assassination attempt against Viktor Orban in order to get people to rally behind him.

Too dramatic?

Too over-the-top?

Not believable enough?

Oh, but wait.

We've also still got the Strait of Hormuz shut down, choked off as a result of the U.S.