Secretary of State Marco Rubio set the record straight after CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan argued that Vice President J.D. Vance’s defense of free speech in Europe could lead to a genocide like the Holocaust.
Rubio joined “Face the Nation” on Sunday to respond to the cadre of European elites who threw a temper tantrum over Vance’s recent speech in Munich where he warned that the EU’s greatest danger comes from within due to its attacks on free speech and political dissent.
“I think if anyone’s angry about his word, they don’t have to agree with him. But to be angry about it, I think actually makes his point. I thought it was actually a pretty historic speech, whether you agree with him or not,” Rubio told Brennan.
.@SecRubio on @VP's remarks in Munich: "Why would our allies or anybody be irritated by free speech?" pic.twitter.com/uHXsj1xqQt
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“I think the valid points he’s making to Europe is we are concerned that the true values that we share, the values that bind us together with Europe are things like free speech and democracy and our shared history in winning two world wars and defeating Soviet communism and the like.”
“These are the values that we shared in common. In that Cold War, we fought against things like censorship and oppression and so forth,” he continued. “When you see backsliding and you raise that, that’s a very valid concern. We can’t tell them how to run their countries. He simply expressed in a speech his view of it, which a lot of people, frankly, share. I thought he said a lot of things in that speech that needed to be said. And honestly, I don’t know why anybody would be upset about it. You don’t have to agree on someone’s speech.”
“I happen to agree with a lot of what he said, but you don’t have to agree with someone’s speech to at least appreciate the fact they have a right to say it, and you should listen to it and see whether those criticisms are valid.”
“I assure you, the United States has come under withering criticism on many occasions from many leaders in Europe, and we don’t go around throwing temper tantrums about it,” Rubio added.
At that point, Brennan tried to jab Vance by blaming free speech for the Holocaust.
“Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide. He met with the head of a political party that has far-right views and some historic ties to extreme groups. The context of that was changing the tone of it. You know that, that the censorship was specifically about the right,” Brennan asserted.
Marco Rubio shuts down Democrat mouthpiece Margaret Brennan in brutal fashion: pic.twitter.com/aVvLDKlOpt
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Marcio responded, “No, I have to disagree with you. Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide. The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated Jews and they hated minorities and they hated those that they had a list of people they hated, but primarily the Jews.”
“There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. There was none. There was also no opposition in Nazi Germany. They were a sole and only party that governed that country. So that’s not an accurate reflection of history. I also think it’s wrong,” Rubio noted.
“Again, I go back to the point of his speech. The point of his speech was basically that there is an erosion in free speech and in tolerance for opposing points of view within Europe, and that’s of concern because that is eroding. That’s not an erosion of your military capabilities. That’s not an erosion of your economic standing.”
“That’s an erosion of the actual values that bind us together in this transatlantic union that everybody talks about. And I think allies and friends and partners that have worked together now for 80 years should be able to speak frankly to one another in open forums without being offended, assaulted, or upset,” Rubio added.
Watch the full exchange:
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