The US vice president spoke about the real “threat from within” at the Munich Security Conference
US Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a fiery speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, criticizing European leaders for fearing their own voters and failing to uphold democratic values, while censoring opposing voices under the pretext of fighting “disinformation.”
Vance’s speech “hruffled quite a few feathers in Europe,” journalists told Trump at a press conference in the Oval Office later in the day, asking if the US president agreed that the EU elites have a “fundamentally different view of the world.”
“I thought his speech was very well received, actually. I’ve heard very good remarks,” Trump stated. “I’m glad he made it – a very good speech, actually, a very brilliant speech. And Europe has to be careful.”
“I heard his speech and he talked about freedom of speech and I think it’s true. In Europe they’re losing their wonderful right of freedom of speech,” Trump added.
Europe faces its greatest threat from within rather than from foreign powers, Vance told the gathering in Munich, expressing concern about what he described as the continent’s abandonment of its core values.
“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, adding, “what I worry about is the threat from within.”
Vance criticized European leaders for fearing their own voters and failing to uphold democratic values, citing the recent annulment of Romania’s presidential election.
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 that you can do for the American people who elected me and elected President Trump.
The US vice president also accused EU elites of ignoring the widening gap between their views and those of ordinary citizens and censoring opposing voices, framing it as a fight against “disinformation or misinformation.”
“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 noted. “Now, to many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old, entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election.”
“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,” Vance stated.
