Vance Tells Europeans to Stop Shunning Parties Deemed Extreme
Source: New York Times
Vance Tells Europeans to Stop Shunning Parties Deemed Extreme
His comments, a week before Germanys elections, seemed to specifically target efforts to sideline the hard-right Alternative for Germany.
By Jim Tankersley, Steven Erlanger and David E. Sanger
Reporting from Munich
Feb. 14, 2025
Updated 4:04 p.m. ET
Vice President JD Vance told European leaders on Friday that their biggest security threat was not military aggression from Russia or China, or election meddling from Moscow. Rather, he said, it was what he called the enemy within their own suppression of abortion protests and other forms of free speech and the sidelining of parties considered extremist.
The address stunned and silenced hundreds of attendees at the Munich Security Conference, a forum where top-level politicians, diplomats and analysts had gathered expecting to hear the Trump administrations plans for ending the war in Ukraine and Europes defense against a rising Russian threat in the future.
Instead, the vice president offered what may be a preview of a new kind of trans-Atlantic relationship under Mr. Trump one not built on postwar bonds of stability between allied governments, but rather on ties with once-fringe political parties that share a common approach to migration, identity and internet speech.
Mr. Vance singled out his German hosts, who will elect a new chancellor next weekend, and told them to drop their objections to working with a party that has often reveled in banned Nazi slogans and has been shunned from government as a result.
{snip}
Emma Bubola contributed reporting from Rome.
Jim Tankersley is the Berlin bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. More about Jim Tankersley
https://www.nytimes.com/by/jim-tankersley
Steven Erlanger is the chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe and is based in Berlin. He has reported from over 120 countries, including Thailand, France, Israel, Germany and the former Soviet Union. More about Steven Erlanger
https://www.nytimes.com/by/steven-erlanger
David E. Sanger covers the Trump administration and a range of national security issues. He has been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written four books on foreign policy and national security challenges. More about David E. Sanger
https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-e-sanger
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/world/europe/vance-europe-immigration-ukraine.html

speak easy
(11,267 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(52,957 posts)LudwigPastorius
(11,838 posts)Although, I'm not sure what Trump gets out of courting German neo-nazis...unless he's planning on taking over the world and is building up his overseas base.
MayReasonRule
(2,459 posts)
raccoon
(31,671 posts)Redleg
(6,380 posts)Vance and trump and most of the GOP does nothing but demonize Dems and libs. Marxist, communist, socialist, radical, don't love our country, etc.
vapor2
(1,857 posts)Wicked Blue
(7,692 posts)Vance should go back to boffing sofas
patphil
(7,512 posts)VP Vance supports the rape of the Executive Branch by Trump and Musk.
When it's done, we'll have a government that is no longer able to function, and an economy in danger of collapse.
Not only will this drive the US into a deep recession, and possible a depression, but it will weaken us to the point where we may be vulnerable to attack by external enemies.
All the while, I get the feeling that this is all part of the biggest theft in the history of the modern world.
These bastards want to bankrupt the nation, while filling their accounts to the tune of a trillion dollars or more.
The "tell" on this will be if there is an attempt to convert US Treasury accounts into Cyber Currrency.
lapfog_1
(30,684 posts)who thought he could fly to England and convince them that fighting Germany was not in England's best interest
Harker
(15,712 posts)Deputy Führer.
Both deluded.
lapfog_1
(30,684 posts)Harker
(15,712 posts)lapfog_1
(30,684 posts)but I give Vance 50/50 about either prison or President.
Harker
(15,712 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(52,957 posts)Harker
(15,712 posts)lapfog_1
(30,684 posts)Spandau Prison was a former military prison located in the Spandau borough of West Berlin (present-day Berlin, Germany). Built in 1876, it became a proto-concentration camp under Nazi Germany. After the Second World War, it held seven top Nazi leaders convicted in the Nuremberg trials. After the death of its last prisoner, Rudolf Hess, in August 1987, the prison was demolished and replaced by a shopping centre for the British forces stationed in Germany to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.
DBoon
(23,568 posts)They suffered the military aggression and mass murder of the German Nazis, the tyranny of the Italian Fascists, Spanish Falangists and other fascist movement, followed by the domination of much of the continent by Stalin's Soviet Union, supported by domestic communist parties.
Millions of Europeans killed, millions more deprived of basic liberties and an entire continent reduced to ruin are why these parties are still shunned.
Baitball Blogger
(49,463 posts)Harker
(15,712 posts)and I bet he gets all the respect he deserves.
Baitball Blogger
(49,463 posts)Harker
(15,712 posts)IronLionZion
(47,980 posts)Because the real enemies for hens are woke and DEI.
Basso8vb
(745 posts)Fuck him.
Vinca
(51,715 posts)appalachiablue
(43,474 posts)OKIsItJustMe
(21,196 posts)Barak Ravid
Munich - Vice President JD Vance shocked many European leaders who came to his speech at the Munich Security Conference expecting to hear about Ukraine, when he instead focused on what he called "the threat from within" Europe.
Why it matters: Vance dove headfirst into the politics of America's European allies, lambasting what he described a "retreat" from shared democratic values when it comes to issues like abortion, social media censorship and immigration.
- "If American democracy survived 10 years of scolding from Gretta Thunberg, Europe can survive several months of Elon Musk," Vance joked. Almost nobody in the room laughed.
vapor2
(1,857 posts)PSPS
(14,349 posts)Hope22
(3,667 posts)EarthFirst
(3,521 posts)for the foreseeable future.
Diamond_Dog
(36,204 posts)has one hell of a nerve going over there and promoting right wing extremism, especially in Germany a week before their elections. What a disgrace and what an embarrassment.
I sure hope most Europeans understand that many, many Americans dont subscribe to that garbage.
Dulcinea
(7,973 posts)That's what Felon 47 really cares about. He knows a fool when he sees one. Every con man knows his mark.
Vance is such a worthless little wanker. When this all comes to an end, and it will eventually, he'll be the first one jettisoned.
LetMyPeopleVote
(159,576 posts)JoseBalow
(6,933 posts)
tornado34jh
(1,394 posts)I bet you Vance before he became VP never visited Europe. I used to think the US was pretty well educated, but not anymore. Before I continue, I want to disclaim I am not someone who was nor ever would have been part of this organizations and thus, know in the ins and outs of it, but I have heard of it and know how exclusive it is. With that being said, the fact that people in our own government, these supposed, well-educated people, are making stupid statements like this is so ridiculous, they make China and Russia look like they are part of MENSA.
I would like to think that as a government official in a high-ranking position, you would understand the complexities of the world and at least know a little bit of history of the places you are going to. I'm not expecting them to be a history doctorate per se, but they should understand that things don't work the same in other countries compared to them. To expect Europe to just stop shunning extremist parties is incredibly arrogant, especially in a country like Germany, who until relatively recently, was not really a unified country as it is now. Throughout history it had been through numerous kings, empires, the Soviet Union, etc. It would be like if Poland/Ukraine should just accept pro-Russia parties who likely would be against their interests.
Evolve Dammit
(20,263 posts)pazzyanne
(6,662 posts)

andym
(5,894 posts)If Europe goes back to such nationalism, we could enter a very unstable period both economically and militarily. Vance is promoting policies that are not in the USA's interest.
raccoon
(31,671 posts)I hope that they told him to go pound sand
milestogo
(19,784 posts)Bettie
(17,908 posts)is upset that his kind of people are generally shunned?
He should just fuck off and keep fucking off forever.
mwooldri
(10,584 posts)mdbl
(5,895 posts)and if they know what is good for them, they will isolate us.
Response to mdbl (Reply #41)
Name removed Message auto-removed
kimbutgar
(24,464 posts)I went on several cruises before the pandemic and visited several European destinations. I can just see down the road some of these countries denying entry of US citizens. Countries will no longer trust Americans. And European tourists will not want to visit here because of the neo Hitler 🍑💩🤡.
lark
(24,650 posts)It would be so much worse this time, and with reason. A lot of Europeans think all Americans support the orange fascist and everyone there gets tarred by that brush - not fun! Now we are retired and going there would be a stretch monetarily, but it won't even be considered until the fascists are no longer in charge - if that ever happens.
If we manage to clean out our countrys poliitics of this stain, I will go to Europe to celebrate! We've never been to Italy, Great Britain, Portugal or Spain so there's still a lot to see!!
kimbutgar
(24,464 posts)We went to Italy in 2016,2017 and 2018. We never said we were from the USA but California. And apologized when people asked us how our country could elect that awful man. We took a train from Venice to Zurich in 2017 and sat with two young women one from England (who was gong to college in Venice ) and another from Ukraine, they asked us what happened to your country to elect such a bad man. We told them how much we disliked him and it was a very interesting conversation. When we arrived in Zurich and we were getting our stuff, people came up to us and wished us luck. We realized that a lot of people on this train car were listening to our conversation ! We went back to Europe but on cruises in 2018 and 2019. The pandemic ended our international travel. And now we dont know if well ever go anytime soon again because of being embarrassed by the reign of terror of the 🍑💩🤡.
lark
(24,650 posts)We sat for dinner with this Australian couple and they were totally hateful about it. They were loud and nasty and some folks from the next table, German I think, chimed in too saying if Americans disliked him he wouldn't have been elected. We said we hated him far more than they did because we had to live with it, but they weren't listening. They all had their minds made up about Americans and nothing was going to shake that belief.
We got an unbelievable deal and got to go again in 2019, and this time we met 2 lovely couples, one from Wales and one from New Zealand and we spent all our time together and had an absolute blast.
Still, with as much as America and Europe have gotten to be darker places with the rise of the oligrarchs and fascism, I don't want to spend so much money and experience the descent and the righteous anger from Europe with tcf and it's spread to everyday folks. We are fully retired and social security is our main income besides several very small pensions. I am very concerned about what the techbros will do to our payments so have no plans at the moment for traveling. Plus I have 2 bad knees that have to get fixed so I can walk long distances again. This is not a good year!
Initech
(104,038 posts)
eppur_se_muova
(38,510 posts)Quote from Curtis Yarvin, frequently cited by Vance as a big influence on his "thinking". So now he's serving as the thin end of the wedge for infiltrating extremist politics into the mainstream discussion.
https://www.salon.com/2024/10/01/rachel-maddow-sounds-alarm-on-jd-vances-pro-dictatorship-influences/
JustABozoOnThisBus
(24,004 posts)Those three words predict the sort of reception he gets (and deserves).
Next up: Musk tells Europeans ...
Karasu
(698 posts)This is what decades of conservatives normalizing fascism will do. Nothing is ever right-wing enough for these fucking clowns.
This administration's insistence on furthering the "Republicanization" of European politics is beyond fucking disturbing. The EU can (and should) tell them to fuck off with that noise.
HarryM
(333 posts)To all humankind.
My dad and uncles, as well as millions fought a war to rid the world of this vermin. We didnt get them all, so we will have to stomp them out again. They are like cockroaches. Just when you think they have been eradicated, more appear.
lark
(24,650 posts)Insert murderous horrendous thing for the dots because these fascists are going all out to take over the world.
Wingus Dingus
(8,823 posts)He just wasn't this embarrassing.
4catsmom
(597 posts)I went from calling Trump Hitler to being his running mate and kissing his ass. It's all a matter of perspective
Oneironaut
(5,915 posts)Nazis being extreme isnt an opinion. Theyre doing the both sides shit with this article again.
electric_blue68
(20,171 posts)2naSalit
(95,882 posts)He should have been escorted to his plane and told to never return in any capacity.