Vice President J.D. Vance didn't get the warmest of receptions at the Munich Security Conference when he entered into a speech attacking the governance of the European Union.
According to Politico, Vance delivered a "U.S.-style MAGA, red meat speech that eschewed detailed discussion of defense and security," focusing in particular on criticism of European countries' migrant policy and free speech protections.
“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. And what I worry about is the threat from within,” said Vance. “The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”
He continued, “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 it in the public square, agree or disagree … If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.”
One of Vance's grievances appears to be the Romanian High Court voiding the first round of that country's presidential election, after determining that the far-right candidate was influenced by an outside Russian disinformation campaign. “When we see European courts canceling elections and senior officials threatening to cancel others, we ought to ask whether we’re holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard,” Vance said.
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He also complained about the increase in non-European migration into the EU, blaming it for the apparent vehicle-ramming attack by an Afghan asylum seeker in Munich that left dozens injured, and calling it "the result of a series of conscious decisions made by politicians all over the continent."
None of this was particularly well-received by Europeans at the conference listening to the speech — and according to Politico's White House reporter Dasha Burns, the anger and derision burst out in the overflow room. The audience reportedly groaned as Vance highlighted the "threat from within," and one woman in attendance shouted out, "he's such a puppet!"
"In the end, there was palpable shock and anger," Burns concluded.
Trump and his associates have often not been met with the reactions they were hoping for when speaking on the world stage. In one of the most well-known incidents, diplomats openly laughed at Trump as he gave a speech to the United Nations in 2018 — though after the fact he insisted they were simply "laughing with me."
