Zsolt Bayer (born 26 February 1963) is a
Hungarian far-right[1] and pro-Russian[citation needed] journalist, whose views have been widely described as racist,[2][3][4][5][6][1] homophobic and transphobic,[7] and
antisemitic.[8][1] He was a co-founder of the ruling
Fidesz party and close confidant of Prime Minister
Viktor Orbán.[9] He is the owner of party membership card No. 5.[10]
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.[13]
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,[14] and commented that many gypsies are "animals... unfit to live among people" and "potential murderers [who] should not exist."[15][16][14] The article generated negative reactions in Hungary and throughout Europe.[16][14] 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.[14] The Hungarian Media Authority fined the journal 250,000 forints and ordered the content removed from the Internet.[17] Bayer said in 2016 that
Pope Francis was “either a senile old fool or a scoundrel” for his pro-refugee sentiments.[18][19]
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.[20]
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.[21]
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.[23] 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.[24]