The bulk of Vance’s speech relied on outrage anecdotes, with zero context, holding them up as examples of how European leaders are stifling speech. “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, with no apparent sense of irony or self-awareness. “And I say ‘ourselves,’ because I fundamentally believe that we are on the same team. We must do more than talk about democratic values. We must live them.”
European leaders were earnestly seeking answers on what America and the Trump administration are planning on Ukraine, and instead got an airing of grievances. The Munich Security Conference often involves a lot of self-referential talk about democratic values and the importance of the transatlantic alliance – and, lately, a lot of very careful diplomatic speak about challenges and a more transactional world.
But serious conversations do happen here, and because Trump is talking to Russian president Vladimir Putin but not European leaders, and because the administration keeps signaling different things on Ukraine, the audience was eager to better understand what America wants. They probably hoped for some directness from Vance, so they could brace themselves and prepare to react and respond. Instead, European leaders were pissed off at the nerve of the guy – and felt a little bit like, “ma’am this is a Wendy’s.”
On the one hand, it is easy to dismiss this as a whiny rant from a guy whose actual role and influence in the Trump administration is still unclear. On the other hand, it is yet another reminder that, even if Vance may not be the most powerful vice president, his worldview of resentment is an animating force of this administration.
But Vance did what he intended to do. He caused a real stir, and he reminded the entire world of why they are justified to be on edge about their partnership with the United States. The Trump administration may not actually have a grand vision or serious strategy on America’s security. In Vance’s view, the United States is willing to engage with allies, as long as they are elevating the people he considers his ideological allies.
Vance is not the first critic of Europe on its handling of issues like speech and misinformation, and there are questions about Europe’s approach to things Vance mentioned, like the annulment of presidential elections in Romania over questions of Russian interference. But Vance was not engaging in good-faith criticism, he was dismissive – if not mocking – of Europe’s efforts to protect its democracy from threats to it. “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,” Vance said.
Vance is not dumb. He knows a teenager who organizes student protests is not the same as the richest man in the world who controls and shapes a media platform and is giving press conferences from the Oval Office. He is saying he does not care – and daring Europe, or anyone else, to stop him.
Vance was scheduled to do a brief question-and-answer session after his speech with Christoph Heusgen, the chairman of the Munich Security Conference. Other leaders did, including the Chinese Foreign Minister. Vance left after his speech; I reached out to the Munich Security Conference to see what happened, but it has not responded to a request for comment. One would think, in the spirit of free speech and dialogue, Vance might engage with some discussion on his views, and defend everything he just said.
Meanwhile, Germany’s firewall against the far-right was tested recently, when the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) passed a non-binding motion in Germany’s parliament with support from the AfD. Protests erupted across Germany. The CDU reiterated its commitment to the firewall.
Ahead of Germany’s federal elections on February 23, the AfD is earning about a fifth of the vote, according to polls, second only to the CDU. But in Germany’s multi-party system, a majority of voters are supporting mainstream parties, not the AfD. The results of the election are still a few weeks away, but to use Vance’s own words at Munich: “you embrace what your people tell you, even when it’s surprising, even when you don’t agree.”
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