The Legislature unanimously passed Attorney General Marty Jackley’s Senate Bill 17 to immediately ban any contribution or loan from foreign nationals to South Dakota candidates and political committees. When Governor Larry Rhoden signed SB 17 into law on March 11, the Attorney General said, “This bill ensures foreign interests will not have a role in South Dakota’s elections, keeping our campaign process transparent and accountable to South Dakota citizens…. Thank you to Republican and Democratic legislators and Gov. Rhoden for protecting our election process in South Dakota.”
A.G. and leading Congressional candidate Jackley brought SB 17 to support a March 2025 Presidential Executive order in which Donald Trump huffed that “foreign interference in our election process undermines the franchise and the right of American citizens to govern their Republic.”
Today, J.D. Vance is in Hungary campaigning for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán:
US Vice President JD Vance has landed in Budapest to bolster support for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose Fidesz Party faces its most difficult election in more than 10 years.
Vance’s two-day visit comes on Tuesday, two months after US President Donald Trump endorsed right-wing leader Orban in February before Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary elections, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the country that month to show support [Brian Osgood, “Vance Visits Hungary to Shore Up Orban’s Support Before Sunday Vote,” Aljazeera, 2026.04.07].
Vance is campaigning for a Russian tool:
During a phone call between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin last autumn, the Hungarian leader assured Putin of his friendship and offered assistance in resolving the war in Ukraine.
…During the call on 17 October, Orbán told Putin he was “willing to go to great lengths” to help him, including facilitating a settlement of the war in Ukraine through a summit in Budapest.
“Yesterday our friendship rose to such a high level that I can help in any way. In any matter where I can be of assistance, I am at your service,” Orbán said.
To illustrate his point, Orbán referred to a children’s fable popular in Hungary about a mouse that frees a lion caught in a net after the lion had previously spared its life.
According to the transcript, this remark made Putin laugh.
Much of the conversation was reportedly devoted to exchanging compliments, including about US President Donald Trump.
Orbán noted that his friendship with Putin had strengthened since it began in Saint Petersburg in 2009.
“The more friends we make, the more possibilities we have to resist our adversaries,” he said [Ulyana Krychkovska and Stanislav Pohorilov, “Hungary’s Orbán Was Willing to Go to Great Lengths to Help Putin and Russia, Leaked Conversation Reveals,” Ukrainska Pravda, 2026.04.07].
The American interlopers aren’t moving the needle much among Hungarians:
The display of transatlantic loyalty probably won’t alter the political equation in Hungary, however, where a growing swell of opposition to the ruling Fidesz party is focused on the country’s economic weakness and the cronyism and corruption associated with Orbán. That popular resistance has put Péter Magyar’s Tisza party in a strong position to win the vote, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls, which has shown him ahead since late 2024.
…U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also visited in February to try to reverse Orbán’s flagging fortunes, but his talk of a “golden age” in U.S.-Hungary relations seemed to fall flat. Indeed, independent opinion surveysfollowing Rubio’s trip showed the center-right opposition actually widening its lead [Jamie Dettmer and Eli Stokols, “Vance in Budapest: Viktor Orabn’s Last Throw of the MAGA Dice,” Politico.eu, 2026.04.07].
Jackley exerted himself this Session to protect South Dakotans from the largely non-existent threat of foreign pressure in South Dakota elections, but he’s not invoking his professed commitment to the right to self-governance to condemn high-ranking officials of his own party openly trying to influence other nations’ elections.
The liars and cheaters love sucking each other. It’s a grim circle of jerks.