From CBS to TikTok, US media are falling to Trump’s allies. This is how democracy crumbles | Owen Jones

We're watching the Orbanisation of the US - and as in Hungary, control of the media is key to consolidating power

Democracy may be dying in the US. Whether the patient receives emergency treatment in time will determine whether the condition becomes terminal. Before Donald Trump's return to the presidency, I warned of Orbanisation" - in reference to Hungary's authoritarian leader Viktor Orban. There, democracy was not extinguished by firing squads or the mass imprisonment of dissidents, but by slow attrition. The electoral system was warped, civil society was targeted and pro-Orban moguls quietly absorbed the media.

Nine months on, and Orbanisation is in full bloom across the Atlantic. Billionaire Larry Ellison, the Oracle co-founder, and his filmmaker son, David, have become blunt instruments in this process. Trump boasts they are friends of mine - they're big supporters of mine". Larry Ellison, second only to Elon Musk as the world's richest man, has poured tens of millions into Republican coffers. Shortly after the 2020 election, he joined a call that discussed challenging the legitimacy of the vote. His son, David, has a history of backing Democrats - but at one time, so did Trump, his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist