Zsolt Bayer

In a 2011 article for Magyar Hírlap, Bayer referred to Jews as "stinking excrement called something like Cohen". The previous year, he said the Hungarian Academy of Science had been affected by Jewish infiltration. In the Austrian daily Die Presse, the journalist Karl Pfeifer described Bayer as a "fecal anti-Semite" in an article published during 2011.{{cite news|last=Weinthal|first=Benjamin|url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/anti-jewish-tirades-at-hungarian-newspaper-provoke-outrage-232627|title=Anti-Jewish tirades at Hungarian newspaper provoke outrage|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=5 August 2011|access-date=22 May 2022}}

In 2013, Bayer wrote an opinion piece for Magyar Hírlap referring to the killings of Marian Cozma and Gergely Sávoly, where Roma were suspected of involvement, and commented that many gypsies are "animals... unfit to live among people" and "potential murderers [who] should not exist."{{Cite web |url=http://www.magyarhirlap.hu/ki-ne-legyen|first=Zsolt|last=Bayer |title=Ki ne legyen?|work= Magyar Hírlap|date=5 January 2013|access-date=21 August 2016|language=hu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107011609/http://www.magyarhirlap.hu/ki-ne-legyen |archive-date=7 January 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|work=Deutsche Welle|url=http://www.dw.de/moving-right-in-hungary/a-16563266|title=Moving right in Hungary|access-date=3 December 2020}}{{cite web|work=Der Spiegel|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/ruling-hungarian-fidesz-party-adopts-policies-of-far-right-jobbik-party-a-880590.html|title=Blurring Boundaries: Hungarian Leader Adopts Policies of Far-Right|first=Keno|last=Verseck|date=30 January 2013|access-date=3 December 2020}} The article generated negative reactions in Hungary and throughout Europe. A Fidesz spokeswoman said that Bayer's views were his own, while Fidesz communications chief Máté Kocsis said critics of Bayer's article were "siding with" Roma murderers. The Hungarian Media Authority fined the journal 250,000 forints and ordered the content removed from the Internet.{{cite web|url=https://hvg.hu/itthon/20130508_Negyedmilliora_buntette_Bayer_irasa_miatt|title=Negyedmillióra büntette Bayer írása miatt a Magyar Hírlapot a Médiatanács|work=HVG|date=8 May 2013|access-date=3 December 2020|language=hu}} Bayer said in 2016 that Pope Francis was “either a senile old fool or a scoundrel” for his pro-refugee sentiments.{{Cite web|url=https://hungarianspectrum.org/2016/08/13/pope-francis-and-his-hungarian-critics/|title=Pope Francis and his Hungarian critics|first=Eva S.|last=Balogh|work=Hungarian Spectrum|date=August 13, 2016|access-date=3 December 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/14/viktor-orban-budapest-hungary-christianity-with-a-twist|title=Orbán deploys Christianity with a twist to tighten grip in Hungary|first=Shaun|last=Walker|date=July 14, 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=3 December 2020}}

In a November 2020 opinion article in Magyar Nemzet titled "Breaking the Taboo", Bayer called black criminals "niggers". The article was later censored by Magyar Nemzet.{{Cite web|last=Márk|first=Herczeg|date=2020-11-15|title=Átírta a Magyar Nemzet Bayer Zsolt tabutörőnek szánt, rasszista szövegét|url=https://444.hu/2020/11/15/atirta-a-magyar-nemzet-bayer-zsolt-tabutoronek-szant-rasszista-szoveget|access-date=2020-11-17|website=444|language=hu}}

In December 2020, Bayer said on HírTV that an "old friend and comrade" admitted to him two decades ago that he liked to go to Thailand "because young boys were also available", indicating Bayer had knowledge about sexual abuse of minors. There is no record showing that Bayer ever reported this to the relevant authorities.{{Cite web|first=László|last=Szily|date=2020-12-04|title="Ennek a kockázatát harminc éve tudja mindenki a Jóskával kapcsolatban"|url=https://444.hu/2020/12/04/ennek-a-kockazatat-harminc-eve-tudja-mindenki-a-joskaval-kapcsolatban|access-date=2020-12-04|website=444|language=hu}}

File:BAYER Zsolt - CPAC Hungary 2022 (3).jpg in Hungary.]]

In 2022, he promoted pro-Russian views during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{Cite web |title=In the Midst of an Election, Hungarian State-Linked Media Pushes pro-Kremlin Narratives Surrounding the Invasion of Ukraine |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/in-the-midst-of-an-election-hungarian-state-linked-media-pushes-pro-kremlin-narratives-surrounding-the-invasion-of-ukraine/ |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=ISD |language=en-GB}} He was one of the speakers at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference in Hungary.

In early 2024 historian Krisztián Ungváry published his findings that Bayer's grandfather Károly Gyimes, whom Bayer previously portrayed as someone who saved Jews during the Holocaust, was in fact an active member of the Arrow Cross Party before and during World War II, and later he was an informant for the State Protection Authority.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-28 |title=Ungváry Krisztián: Bayer Zsolt nyilas nagyapja tanította be a hüvelyi motozást a kiskőrösi gettóban |url=https://telex.hu/belfold/2024/01/28/ungvary-krisztian-bayer-zsolt-nagyapja-gyimes-karoly-nyilas-besugo |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=telex|first=Zsolt|last=Sarkadi |language=hu}} Bayer has been well-known for attacking his political opponents for having parents or grandparents who supported the Communist regime. Bayer declared that he did not know about his grandfather's past.{{Cite web |first=Zsolt |last=Bayer |date=2024-01-29 |title=Bayer Zsolt: Válasz Ungváry Krisztiánnak |url=https://magyarnemzet.hu/velemeny/2024/01/bayer-zsolt-valasz-ungvary-krisztiannak |access-date=2024-01-29 |work=Magyar Nemzet |language=hu}}

In August 2016, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit for his writing by Prime Minister Orbán. By early September, 100 previous recipients of Hungarian state awards, among them president of the Lantos Foundation, Katrina Swett, returned them in protest at the decision to honour Bayer.{{cite news |title=Hungary award returned after 'racist' writer honoured |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37272238 |access-date=8 February 2022 |work=BBC News |date=4 September 2016}}

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Category:1963 births

Category:Living people

Category:Hungarian journalists

Category:Right-wing populism in Hungary

Category:Fidesz politicians

Category:Knight's Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil)