The Week Ahead

April 12, 2026

Last Sunday, in “The Week Ahead,” we discussed Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán’s election problem. He and his Christian nationalist far-right political party, Fidesz, were seriously behind in polling just a week ahead of the election. And we spent some time with my friend Kim Scheppele, parsing the staggering control Orbán exerts over Hungary’s political institutions, like off-the-charts gerrymandering that could have permitted him to maintain control in Parliament, even if he suffered a loss in the popular vote.

But today, Orbán lost that election. He was forced to concede defeat because of the staggeringly large margin of victory by which his opponent, Péter Magyar, won. With 99% of the vote counted tonight, the opposition looks like it will take 2/3 of the seats in parliament. The BBC characterized it as “the type of landslide victory that means they will be able to make sweeping changes to the country.”

There is an obvious lesson for us here. Turnout matters; it may be the only thing that matters, both this year and in 2028. It becomes increasingly difficult for Trump and MAGA to contest races that are lost, not just by 11,779 votes (looking at you, 2020 Georgia), but by the kind of substantial margins turnout for the most recent No Kings Day march suggests Americans may be preparing to deliver. It’s hard to dispute an election that is won by 10 points or more, and much easier for courts to dispense with the inevitable challenges Trump’s party will bring nonetheless.

So, lesson learned: Whether you bring one or two friends along with you to the polls or work on a major get-out-the-vote effort in your state, for the rest of the time before the midterm elections, the work we do is going to matter. Find the best thing you can do and give it all of your effort. Politicians can’t blame an enormous margin of victory like the one in Hungary on fraud, non-citizen voting, or any of Trump’s other crazy election conspiracy theories. Some margins are too big to deny. Let’s go!

This is the site of Magyar’s election night rally as the polls closed:

After the polls closed, Orban’s Chief of Staff read a prepared statement on television saying that they would have to wait until the votes came in to determine the outcome, but observers said he “looked ashen,” an indication they were anticipating bad news.

The loss was especially bad news for JD Vance, who spent time in Hungary last week in an unprecedented move for an American leader, openly campaigning for the Putin-aligned Orbán. The Republican Party, of course, remained silent about that. Hopefully, Vance will campaign across the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections.

Swalwell Out of the Governor’s Race

California Congressman Eric Swalwell announced earlier this evening that he is withdrawing from the Governor’s race in that state. In a prepared statement, he wrote: “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past." But he continues to deny allegations of sexual assault. He said he’d continue to fight to clear his name, but “that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.” A former staffer told the San Francisco Chronicle that Swalwell sexually assaulted her. CNN reported that four women “described sexual misconduct” by Swalwell, including one who alleged he had raped her.

Democratic strategist Ally Sammarco came forward with allegations that in 2021, when she was first trying to find a place on Capitol Hill, Swalwell responded to a DM asking for his advice and ended up inappropriately sexting her. She said she came forward to support other women because she thought she was the only one before she saw the “recent reports online that some women were about to accuse the longtime congressman of sexual misconduct.” The messages on Snapchat, where she said the Congressman asked her to communicate with him, were no longer available. But Twitter DMs that established they’d been in contact were reviewed by the Washington Post, with one referring to Sammarco as a “bad angel” who had tempted him.

It’s important that when serious allegations like this are made, they are taken seriously. For far too long, our culture was one that didn’t believe women. Swalwell, who maintains his misconduct is between him and his wife and that he did nothing criminal, is entitled to the same due process as anyone else accused of a crime—the Manhattan DA’s office has reportedly opened an investigation into an alleged assault in New York City. But it matters that these allegations are taken seriously. It’s incredibly difficult for victims to come forward. They may think they are the only ones and won’t be believed. They may be concerned that people will think it was their fault. As E. Jean Carroll testified during her defamation case against Donald Trump, she didn’t report his assault at the time because close friends advised her that her career and ability to make a living would be ruined.

But not all of the consequences in a situation like this involve criminal prosecution. The Washington Post reported: “In a video late Friday denying the allegations of sexual assault, Swalwell said he had ‘certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past’ that were ‘between me and my wife.’” Then it continued, “In a social media post, [Congressman Jared] Huffman, a fellow California Democrat, said Swalwell had all but admitted ‘a per se abuse of power’ under House ethics rules, which prohibit House members from having sexual relationships with subordinates.”

Huffman is one of a number of Democrats calling for Swalwell’s expulsion from the House.

Swalwell has alleged that the timing of the allegations is political. They will undoubtedly create chaos in the California Governor’s race. The situation also has echoes of Al Franken’s resignation from the Senate, and the fact that Democrats take allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, while Republicans don’t. We’re still waiting on the truth about Trump and the Epstein files.

There is also Texas Republican Tony Gonzales. He’s being investigated in the House over allegations he had an affair with a staff member who later set herself on fire and died. A week ago, two staffers came forward with allegations that he sent them sexually explicit texts, including repeatedly asking for sex. While top Democrats withdrew support for Swalwell’s gubernatorial ambitions as allegations against him surfaced from multiple women and members of his own party say they will vote for his expulsion from the House if he doesn’t resign, there wasn’t a similar widespread outcry when the allegations about Gonzales first surfaced. Not believing women, not taking their allegations seriously when they have the courage to come forward, can lead to a society where this behavior is tolerated and women don’t feel safe about reporting it, and aren’t safe in the workplace.

Victims deserve justice. The idea that only one political party cares about them is discouraging, and worse, it can feel like Republicans gain political advantage from ignoring or even dismissing allegations of sexual misconduct, like what they’ve done with Trump.

Having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a staffer can be a violation of ethics rules for members of Congress, even when the sex involved isn’t criminal per se, like assault or rape would be. Members can be called upon to resign or expelled from Congress for violating ethics rules. But because of the power differential between accuser and accused, allegations can be easily sidelined, and historically, have been for years before anything happens, even if it eventually does. It’s important to believe women who come forward with credible allegations of sexual misconduct and investigate those allegations, instead of allowing them to be swept under the rug while more victims are harmed.

If an inquiry into a member of Congress progresses into a criminal investigation, the member, like anyone else accused of a crime, is entitled to due process in the criminal justice system. They are innocent of a crime and cannot be punished until they are found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But it’s important that allegations are investigated, not shelved, and that means listening to women who come forward. Doing the right thing has to matter more than tribal politics. But it can feel frustratingly like only Democrats see it that way much of the time.

Bondi Isn’t Testifying

Pam Bondi won’t be showing up to testify before Congress about Jeffrey Epstein, the silver lining to being fired. The House Oversight Committee released a statement last week, saying it would schedule a new date for her to appear. This should be easy: the subpoena was to Bondi, not to the office of the Attorney General. But if the Committee wants to maintain that it was for the AG, then Todd Blanche is available.

The subpoena to Bondi was issued when five Republicans joined Democrats on the Committee to force the issue. Trump has been successful in pushing the Epstein Files off the front burner with his war in Iran. It remains to be seen whether that bipartisan coalition will hold with the issues receiving far less attention.

Trump

The President continues to show signs of decline. Last week, Josh Dawsey at the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump “has repeatedly promised his top administration officials pardons before he leaves office.” How, one wonders, does something like that come up? Is it in the context of a “don’t worry, just do this and it will be okay because…” conversation? Dawsey writes that Trump said in a recent meeting, “I’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval.” He goes on to report, “That radius appears to be expanding as the president repeats the line. Another person who met with Trump earlier this year said the president quipped about pardoning anyone who had come within 10 feet.”

This morning, the President, for the second Sunday in a row, talked openly of committing war crimes in Iran.

He’s ending his day attacking the Pope, whom he refers to as “Leo,” on Truth Social.

Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. He talks about “fear” of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart. I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t! I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country. And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History. Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested. Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church! President DONALD J. TRUMP

But that’s not all. Trump closed out the day by posting two images on Truth Social. One portraying Trump Tower on the Moon (presumably).

And the other depicts Trump as a god-like healer.

The president is not well.

We’re in this together,

Joyce