Watch: You Can Hear a Pin Drop After Vance Humiliates EU Leaders for Following Greta Thunberg, Foisting Her on the Rest of the World

Vice President J.D. Vance gave European leaders a free speech class on Friday, reminding those attending the Munich Security Conference that the messy rancorous business of democracy requires tolerating and protecting all opinions.

Vance said European leaders are “hiding behind ugly, Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation” to muzzle people with contrary views, according to Newsweek.

In a video posted to X, Vance told European leaders that “expressing opinions isn’t election interference, even when people express views outside your own country, and even when those people are very influential.”

Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference:

“If the American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunburg scolding, you can survive a few months of Elon Musk.” pic.twitter.com/LAc9X3KRda

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 14, 2025

“And trust me, I say this with all humor, if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk,” he said.

Thunberg is a 22-year-old Swedish activist who has been a leading voice in protests against climate change since 2018.

Vance then said no democracy can survive “telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns; their aspirations; their pleas for relief are invalid or unworthy of even being considered.”

Newsweek noted that Vance said, “shutting down” unwelcome viewpoints “is the most surefire way to destroy democracy.”

“Just as the Biden administration seemed desperate to silence people for speaking their minds … the Trump administration will do precisely the opposite,” he said.

“In Washington, there’s 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 of agree or disagree.”

Vance said free speech is “in retreat” in Europe, citing a case from Great Britain in which a pro-life protester was arrested on a charge of praying too close to an abortion clinic.

“Most concerning, I look to our very dear friends in the United Kingdom where the backslides away from … rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons in particular, in the cross hairs,” Vance said.

Vance said nations that won the war for freedom are now its enemy.

“When I look at Europe today, it’s not clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners,” Vance said.

“The threat that I worry most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.”

In his speech, Vance focused on a Romanian election that was canceled over allegations of Russian interference, according to Reuters.

“I was struck that a former European Commissioner went on television recently and sounded delighted that the Romanian government had just annulled an entire election,” Vance said.

“Now, as I understand it, the argument was that Russian disinformation had infected the Romanian elections, but I’d ask my European friends to have some perspective,” he continued.

“You can believe it’s wrong for Russia to buy social media advertisements to influence your elections. We certainly do. You can condemn it on the world stage even, but if your democracy can be destroyed with a few $100,000 of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn’t very strong to begin with.”

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