Hungarian conservative political influencer Stefi Déri, who was one of the co-hosts of CPAC Hungary 2025, proposed an interesting idea on the social media site X. She wants to see Center for Fundamental Rights Senior Fellow Bryan Leib take on Former US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman in a debate.
She has also offered to moderate the event; as well as having it hosted on the online political show Patrióta, which she is also co-hosting.
At least one of the would-be participants has taken the challenge: Leib has also responded on X, expressing that he would be eager to take part in the endeavour. He even tagged Ambassador Pressman in his response. Leib suggested the left-leaning American cable news channel MSNBC as a venue instead.
Leib was a consistent critic of the Former Ambassador while he was serving on his diplomatic mission, between 2022 and 2025. He often stated that Pressman was prioratizing progressive activism over actually serving to better diplomatic relations between the countries. As a result, the relationship between the two NATO ally countries was very tense during the time of the Biden administration. This culminated in the sanctioning of a high-ranking official in the Orbán government, Antal Rogán. However, he has since been removed from the sanctions list after President Trump took office.
Leib has also consistently stated that if Donald Trump were to return to the White House, a new ‘golden age of US–Hungary relations’ would come about.
Pressman, on the other hand, was an eager critic of the right-wing populist Orbán administration in his host country. He would often criticize its foreign policy in relation to the Russo–Ukrainian war, and even its domestic policy in protecting LGBTQ rights.
After leaving office, he appeared on CNN in March 2025, where he described Hungary as ‘an increasingly authoritarian and illiberal country’ and stated that Hungarians were ‘scared of me’.
It is clear that these two men, Bryan Leib and David Pressman, have starkly opposing views on Hungary, so it would be an interesting spectacle to see them duke on a debate stage—Leib has already shown the interest and courage to take on the challenge. We are still waiting to hear from Pressman, however.
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