Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , [NEW: Why did @Mike_Pence spend last week in Budapest schmoozing with a sanctioned genocide denier?]...[All told, Pence’s Budapest visit was further confirmation of the Trumpist GOP’s increasing willingness to side with entrenching autocrats in the region, and with the authoritarians who found common cause in Trump—even while those same anti-democratic forces routinely remain among the most pro-Chinese and pro-Russian elements in the region. And now that Pence has shown a clear willingness to mingle with the illiberal politicians directly sanctioned by Washington, all bets are off. After all, if leaders of the Republican party are now willing to publicly back sanctioned genocide denialists leading autocratic forces bent on destabilizing Eastern Europe, there’s little reason to think they’ll stop there.]