Vance takes MAGA to Munich with speech scolding European leaders

 https://www.axios.com/2025/02/14/vance-munich-speech-free-speech-afd

Munich - Vice President JD Vance shocked many European leaders who came to his speech at the Munich Security Conference expecting to hear about Ukraine, when he instead focused on what he called "the threat from within" Europe.

Vance dove headfirst into the politics of America's European allies, lambasting what he described a "retreat" from shared democratic values when it comes to issues like abortion, social media censorship and immigration.

"If American democracy survived 10 years of scolding from Gretta Thunberg, Europe can survive several months of Elon Musk," Vance joked. Almost nobody in the room laughed.

 Many European officials hoped to hear from Vance about the Trump administration's strategy for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Vance said only one sentence on that issue, before lecturing his audience over mass immigration and free speech.

A senior German politician who listened to Vance speech summed it up with one sentence: "It was a big boost to the far right in Germany and in Europe".