At last week’s Munich Security Conference, Vice President JD Vance delivered a hard-hitting message that the European elite desperately needed to hear. He didn’t coddle them with diplomatic platitudes or indulge their growing authoritarian tendencies. Instead, he spoke the truth: if European governments fear their own people’s opinions, then there is nothing America can do for them.
Predictably, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius took offense, declaring Vance’s words “not acceptable.” But in doing so, he only proved Vance’s point. Instead of countering Vance’s argument with logic or facts, Pistorius’ immediate response was to try and shut it down. The irony was lost on no one.
Europe’s War on Speech
Vance wasn’t just making idle complaints—he was highlighting a dangerous reality. Across Europe, governments are increasingly silencing opposition, suppressing dissent, and criminalizing speech under the guise of fighting “misinformation” and “hate speech.” These tactics, Vance rightly observed, resemble the very censorship methods once employed by the Soviet Union.
Europeans don’t have true free speech protections. Unlike in America, where the First Amendment enshrines free expression as an unassailable right, European governments decide what can and cannot be said. A German citizen can be arrested for criticizing certain political ideologies. A British teenager can be fined for posting an offensive joke online. In France, religious leaders can be penalized for preaching their faith if it conflicts with progressive orthodoxy.
This isn’t democracy—it’s soft totalitarianism.
America Stands Alone on Free Speech
As Vance made clear, the United States is the last major nation on Earth where free speech is truly protected. Other countries may pay lip service to liberty, but only America has embedded it into the very fabric of its constitutional order. Thanks to the 1969 Brandenburg v. Ohio Supreme Court ruling, even the most controversial and offensive speech is shielded from government suppression. This isn’t a loophole—it’s the foundation of a free society.
Yet, despite this unparalleled commitment to liberty, there is a growing faction within America that envies Europe’s censorship model. The mainstream media, academia, and much of the Democratic Party look across the Atlantic and wonder: “Why can’t we silence people like that?”
The Media’s War on the First Amendment
CBS News gave us two clear examples of this trend over the weekend. First, on Face the Nation, Margaret Brennan scolded Secretary of State Marco Rubio, claiming that Vance’s critique of Germany was inappropriate because free speech had been “weaponized to conduct genocide” there. This is historically illiterate nonsense. The Nazis didn’t rise to power through free speech—they seized control by crushing opposition, silencing dissenters, and outlawing political enemies. Hitler didn’t “weaponize” speech; he obliterated it.
Then, CBS’s 60 Minutes took things a step further, airing a glowing feature on a German censorship group called HateAid, which works with law enforcement to monitor and punish online speech. The report painted Germany’s crackdown on digital expression as a noble cause, conveniently ignoring the dystopian reality: police literally show up at people’s homes to interrogate them for tweets and Facebook posts. And yet, CBS journalists, who should be the most fervent defenders of free speech, nodded along approvingly.
Is it any wonder that trust in the media is plummeting?
America Must Lead by Example
Vance’s critics claim that it’s inappropriate for the U.S. to call out Europe’s authoritarian drift. They’re wrong.
The principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are not just American ideals—they are universal truths. America cannot—and should not—force other nations to adopt our values, but we can and must advocate for them. The world looks to us as a beacon of freedom. If we fail to defend free speech abroad, it will become harder to protect it at home.
Europe’s slide into censorship is not just a European problem. It is a warning. If America is not vigilant, the same forces that have silenced voices across the Atlantic will find a way to do so here. That is why JD Vance was right to speak up, and why America must remain steadfast in its commitment to the First Amendment—no matter how uncomfortable it makes the global elite.
