Vice President JD Vance quipped that Europe could survive Elon Musk’s criticisms if the U.S. could “survive” climate activist Greta Thunberg’s.
In a speech at the Munich Security Conference largely critical of Europe’s censorship activities, the vice president insisted the gathered leaders should listen more to their voters.
“Trust me, I say this with all humor,” he said. “If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”
Thunberg, the 22-year-old Swedish environmental crusader, stole the spotlight among liberals over her climate concerns before she even turned 18.
VANCE EVISCERATES ‘SOVIET’-STYLE EUROPEAN CENSORSHIP IN ADDRESS TO MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE
Vice President JD Vance quipped that Europe can survive Elon Musk’s criticisms if the U.S. could ‘survive’ climate activist Greta Thunberg. (REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay)
“I know you are trying, but just not hard enough. Sorry,” Thunberg told a U.S. Senate climate panel in 2019.
“Don’t invite us here to just tell us how inspiring we are without actually doing anything about it,” she said at age 16.
“How long do you think you can continue to ignore the climate crisis, the global aspect of equity and historic emissions without being held accountable?” Thunberg asked U.S. lawmakers two years later before the House Oversight Subcommittee on the Environment.
GERMANY ACCUSES ELON MUSK OF TRYING TO INTERFERE IN ITS NATIONAL ELECTIONS
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is removed by police during a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the Malmo Arena venue ahead of the final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2024 on May 11, 2024. ((Photo by JOHAN NILSSON/TT/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images))
”You get away with it now, but sooner or later, people are going to realize what you have been doing all this time. That’s inevitable. You still have time to do the right thing and to save your legacies.”
Musk, meanwhile, has gone toe-to-toe with Europe over censorship, and the European Commission recently ramped up its probe into whether Musk’s X had breached EU rules on content moderation. Musk has called the commission “undemocractic” and called on the European Union to hold referendums to vote on policies that apply to all of its nations.
Musk has also riled European officials with his support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany’s elections, and for endorsing Britain’s right-wing Reform party.
Musl riled European officials with his support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany’s elections, and for endorsing Britain’s right-wing Reform party. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)
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“It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” he said in a recent video appearance at an AfD campaign event.
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In a speech to European leaders, Vice President JD Vance said the continent’s recent censorship activities were a bigger threat to its existence than Russia.
“The threat that I worry the most about Vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China. It’s not any other external actor,” he said in an address at the Munich Security Conference.
“What I worry about is the threat from within the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”
Vance called out former European Commissioner Thierry Breton who said in January that if the right wing German AfD party won elections in Germany, the results could go the way of Romania.
“These cavalier statements are shocking to American ears,” said Vance.
HEGSETH SAYS HE AND VANCE ARE ‘ON THE SAME PAGE’ DESPITE VP’S REMARK ON US TROOPS IN UKRAINE
Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance wave upon landing at Munich international airport, southern Germany, on February 13, 2025, one day before the start of the Munich Security Conference (MSC)(TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)
“For years we’ve been told that everything we fund and support is in the name of our shared democratic values. Everything from our Ukraine policy to digital censorship is billed as a defense of democracy. But 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.”
Romania annulled the results of its December presidential election because President Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence reports alleging a Russian influence campaign on social media to the benefit of Calin Georgescu, the darkhorse candidate who won the most votes.
“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 hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn’t very strong to begin with.”
The vice president even called out the organizers of the Munich conference, who he said had “banned lawmakers representing populist parties on both the left and the right from participating in these conversations.”
The conference barred the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the newly formed left-populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) for what MSC chair Christoph Heusgen described as a rejection of the conference’s principle of “peace through dialogue.” Heusgen said the tipping point was when lawmakers with the parties walked out of the room as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was addressing German parliament last June.
“The threat that I worry the most about Vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China. It’s not any other external actor,” Vice President Vance said.(REUTERS/Leah Millis)
“To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election.”
He then said Europe had forgotten the lessons of the Cold War and the Soviet Union’s censorship policies.
“Within living memory of many of you in this room, the Cold War positioned defenders of democracy against much more tyrannical forces on this continent. And consider the side in that fight that censored dissidents, that closed churches, that canceled elections,” Vance said.
“Unfortunately, when I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold wars winners. I look to Brussels, where EU commissars warn citizens that they intend to shut down social media during times of civil unrest the moment they spot what they’ve judged to be ‘hateful content’ or to this very country where police have carried out raids against citizens suspected of posting anti-feminist comments online as part of ‘combating misogyny on the internet.’”
“Most concerning,” according to Vance, is the United Kingdom.
“The backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs.”
Vance recounted Adam Smith Connor, who was found guilty in October of breaching the local government’s Public Spaces Protection Order, after he stood outside an abortion facility nearly two years ago with his head bowed in silent prayer.
” I wish I could say that this was a fluke, a one-off, crazy example of a badly written law being enacted against a single person. But no,” said Vance.
VANCE WARNS US WILL USE SANCTIONS, MILITARY ACTION IF PUTIN DOESN’T AGREE TO UKRAINE PEACE DEAL: REPORT
US Vice President JD Vance delivers his speech during the 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, southern Germany on February 14, 2025. (THOMAS KIENZLE/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
The U.K. law suggests that those within the buffer zone of 200 meters of an abortion clinic cannot attempt to influence someone’s decision to access an abortion. Those who are in homes within the buffer zone cannot hang signs outside or shout anti-abortion messages that could be heard in range of the clinic.
Vance also called out Sweden, where Danish activist Rasmus Paludan was sentenced to four months in prison for burning copies of the Quran.
“Sweden’s laws to supposedly protect free expression do not, in fact, ‘Grant,’ and I’m quoting, ‘a free pass to do or say anything without risking offending the group that holds that belief,’” said Vance.
Vance’s speech had veered away from what European leaders had been expecting to hear – details on President Donald Trump’s plan for peace between Russia and Ukraine and how to strengthen the NATO alliance.
“I’m sure you all came here prepared to talk about how exactly you intend to increase defense spending over the next few years in line with some new target,” said Vance.
“I’ve heard a lot about what you need to defend yourselves from, and of course that’s important. But what has seemed a little bit less clear to me, and certainly I think to many of the citizens of Europe, is what exactly it is that you’re defending yourselves for. “
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The vice president went on: “What is the positive vision that animates this shared security compact that we all believe is so important? And I believe deeply that there is no security If you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people.”
“The crisis this continent faces right now, the crisis I believe we all face together, is one of our own making. If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that as the U.S. aims to “revive the warrior ethos,” European members of NATO also should follow suit and bolster defense efforts.
“NATO should pursue these goals as well,” Hegseth told NATO members in Brussels on Thursday. “NATO is a great alliance, the most successful defense alliance in history, but to endure for the future, our partners must do far more for Europe’s defense.”
“We must make NATO great again,” he said.
As of 2023, the U.S. spent 3.3% of its GDP on defense spending — totaling $880 billion, according to the nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based Peterson Institute for International Economics. More than 50% of NATO funding comes from the U.S., while other allies, like the United Kingdom, France and Germany, have contributed between 4% and 8% to NATO funding in recent years.
Hegseth urged European allies to bolster defense spending from 2% to 5% of gross domestic product, as President Donald Trump has long advocated.
NATO comprises more than 30 countries and was originally formed in 1949 to halt the spread of the Soviet Union.
Hegseth pointed to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who advocated for a strong relationship with European allies. But he noted that eventually Eisenhower felt that the U.S. was bearing the burden of deploying U.S. troops to Europe in 1959, according to the State Department’s Office of the Historian. Eisenhower reportedly told two of his generals that the Europeans were “making a sucker out of Uncle Sam.”
Hegseth said that he and Trump share sentiments similar to Eisenhower’s.
PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that as the U.S. aims to “revive the warrior ethos,” European members of NATO should follow suit and bolster defense efforts. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“This administration believes in alliances, deeply believes in alliances, but make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker,” Hegseth said.
“We can talk all we want about values,” Hegseth said. “Values are important, but you can’t shoot values, you can’t shoot flags, and you can’t shoot strong speeches. There is no replacement for hard power. As much as we may not want to like the world we live in, in some cases, there’s nothing like hard power.”
Hegseth’s comments come as the Trump administration navigates negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict between the two countries. On Wednesday, Trump called both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Kyiv.
OBAMA OFFICIALS, TRUMP CRITICS TARGET HEGSETH’S ‘CONCESSIONS’ AS ‘BIGGEST GIFT’ TO RUSSIA
On February 12, 2025, President Donald Trump called both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pictured here. (Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are slated to meet with Zelenskyy Friday at the Munich Security Conference.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has come under scrutiny for the negotiations, fielding criticism that Ukraine is being pressured to give in to concessions after Hegseth said on Wednesday that it isn’t realistic for Ukraine to regain its pre-war borders with Russia.
“Putin is gonna pocket this and ask for more,” Brett Bruen, director of global engagement under former President Barack Obama, told Fox News Digital.
Michael McFaul, ambassador to Russia under the Obama administration, also shared concerns in a social media post on X on Wednesday, claiming that Trump was delivering Russia a “gift.”
But Hegseth said he rejected similar accusations.
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“Any suggestion that President Trump is doing anything other than negotiating from a position of strength is, on its face, ahistorical and false,” Hegseth said Thursday.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Trump vowed on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would work to end the conflict if elected again.
Fox News’ Emma Colton and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
President Trump, an avid Diet Coke drinker, had the beverage served up at his inauguration luncheon.
Coca-Cola has recalled “all variants” of multiple beverages produced in a Belgium facility “due to excessively high chlorate content,” according to a press release.
Certain cans and bottles of Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Fuze Tea, Minute Maid, Nalu, Royal Bliss and Tropico were among the products recalled in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, the beverage company said. Zero and light versions of the beverages are included.
The recall affects cans and bottles with the production codes 328 GE to 338 GE.
“The production code can be found on the bottom of the can or on the neck/label of the glass bottle,” Coca-Cola said.
COCA-COLA ANNOUNCES NEW ORANGE CREAM FLAVOR: ‘ICONIC AND NOSTALGIC TASTE’
Coca-Cola bottles are seen at a shop in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on Jan. 28, 2025. Coca-Cola recalls its drinks in some countries across Europe after detecting ”higher levels” of the chemical chlorate. (Firdous Nazir/NurPhoto / Getty Images)
Soda packaging is seen in a grocery store in Las Vegas on Nov. 17, 2023. ( Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
People who purchased the affected products are asked not to consume them but to return them where they bought them for a refund.
“Chlorate originates from chlorine disinfectants widely and legally used in water treatment and in food processing with drinking water being by far the main contributor,” the European Commission says on its website.
YES, FOOD AND DRINKS TASTE DIFFERENT ON A PLANE AND THERE’S A REASON
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Cans and returnable glass bottles bearing a production code ranging from 328 GE to 338 GE are the affected products in the Coca-Cola European recall. (Coca-Cola / Fox News)
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Consuming high levels of chlorate from drinks and food “could result in potential serious health effects,” such as impaired thyroid function and inhibition of iodine uptake, the commission says. It is especially harmful to infants and children.
“We apologize to consumers and our business partners,” Coca-Cola said in a recall announcement published on their website in French, adding that an independent expert analysis found that risk to consumers “is very low.”
