US Vice President JD Vance on Saturday received praise from President Donald Trump for his combative, threat-laden speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
Vance sharply criticised European Union leaders, accusing them of fearing their own voters and failing to uphold democratic values. He alleged that EU elites were suppressing dissenting voices under the guise of combating “disinformation.” His remarks, he claimed, had unsettled the entire bloc and “ruffled quite a few feathers in Europe.”
When asked whether he believed EU leaders held a “fundamentally different view of the world” from his administration, Trump responded positively to Vance’s statements. “I thought his speech was very well received. I’ve heard very good remarks,” Trump said. “I’m glad he made it—a very good speech, actually, a very brilliant speech. And Europe has to be careful.”
Trump echoed Vance’s concerns over free speech in Europe. “He talked about freedom of speech, and I think it’s true. In Europe, they’re losing their wonderful right to free speech,” he added.
‘The real threat is within Europe’
Vance warned that the greatest danger facing the EU was not external forces like Russia or China but rather its own internal decline. “The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor,” he said. “What I worry about is the threat from within.”
Criticising EU leaders for their political insecurities, he added, “If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you. Nor, for that matter, is there anything you can do for the American people who elected me and elected President Trump.”
Censorship and ‘misinformation’
Vance also took aim at censorship in the digital age, arguing that calls for controlling “misinformation” were often a façade for silencing opposing views.
“I will admit that sometimes the loudest voices for censorship have come not from within Europe but from within my own country, where the prior administration threatened and bullied social media companies to censor so-called misinformation,” he said.
To many in the US, he continued, Europe’s approach to free speech resembles tactics from the Soviet era. “It looks more and more like old, entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’—people who simply don’t like the idea that someone with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion, or, God forbid, vote differently, or even worse, win an election.”
Declaring a new approach under Trump’s presidency, Vance concluded, “In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town. And under Donald Trump’s leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer them in the public square.”
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