Sec. Rubio Defends VP Vance’s Munich Speech on CBS

During a Zoom interview with Secretary Marco Rubio on Face the Nation, Margaret Brennan tried to set up a gotcha question. She sided with the irate EU members. They are angry about Vice President Vance’s pointed speech in Munich during the NATO conference.

Brennan claimed Hitler used free speech to commit genocide. She added that the Vice President met with an allegedly “far-right” head of a political party with “some historical ties to extreme groups, the context of that was changing the tone of it.”

Secretary Rubio explained to her that Hitler didn’t use free speech to commit genocide. There was no free speech in Nazi Germany.

Rubio: “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 the sole and only party that governed that country.

Rubio got to the crux of the matter: the erosion of free speech!

“So, that’s not an accurate reflection of history. I also think it’s wrong. 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 intolerance for opposing points of view within Europe, and that’s of concern because that is eroding.”

The Secretary of State told Brennan we are concerned about “the erosion of the actual values that bind us together in this transatlantic union that everybody talks about. And I think allies, friends, and partners who have worked together for 80 years should be able to speak frankly to one another in open forums without being offended, insulted, or upset.”

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Secretary Rubio’s defense continues in the next clip. he believes their reaction proves Vice President Vance’s comments are accurate.

“The Munich Security Conference is largely a conference of democracies in which one of the things that we cherish and value is the ability to speak freely and provide your opinions.

“And so 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. I think the valid point 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 share in common. And in that cold war, we fought against things like censorship and oppression and so forth. And when you see backsliding, and you raise that, that’s a very valid concern.

“We can’t tell them how to run their countries. We simply expressed in a speech his view of it, which a lot of people, frankly, share. And 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 then 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.”

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