Live coverage from Munich: POLITICO is on the ground at the Munich Security Conference, where we’re having conversations with top officials, lawmakers and experts at our POLITICO Pub. Follow our exclusive coverage here.
MUNICH — U.S. Democrats tore into Vice President JD Vance’s scorching attack on European governments, expressing disappointment and accusing him of a “hypocritical lecture.”
Vance, in a departure from the defense-focused discussions that are a hallmark of the annual Munich Security Conference, accused European leaders of ignoring the will of their people, who he insisted were being censored and repressed from expressing their populist views and practicing their faiths.
The vice president also criticized high levels of immigration, echoing themes that fueled Donald Trump’s return to power in the U.S. Vance said he’d pray for the victims of Thursday’s attack in Munich, where a migrant drove a car into a crowd, injuring dozens of people.
But with Europe clamoring for clarity after comments from Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that cast serious doubts on America’s security commitment to Ukraine and Europe, Vance’s speech barely mentioned Ukraine and defense spending, the topics preoccupying European leaders in meetings with U.S. officials here.
“It was stunning in it failing to address the urgent concerns that are at the forefront of the European mind,” Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, said in an interview. “It missed the moment, and he missed a critical opportunity to clarify the administration’s confused and contradictory signals about Ukraine and Russia.”
Republicans in Munich remarked on the omissions too, including Senator John Cornyn of Texas.
“I didn’t get the sense he came today to talk about Ukraine which is at the top of everybody’s list here but rather to comment on things like freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and those sorts of shared values between Europe and the United States,” Cornyn said in an interview. “So it was a narrowly tailored speech and not one designed to address all the questions that people have about American policy in this new administration.”
Speaking at a POLITICO Pub panel on the sidelines of the conference, Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said he was onboard with Vance to the extent that governments should respect election results and not censor the media — but he said Vance was a poor messenger. Vance, he said, refuses to say he respects the results of the 2020 election Trump lost.
He also pointed out that the Trump administration recently barred The Associated Press from the Oval Office for refusing to go along with Trump’s attempt to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
“So what I heard was a very hypocritical lecture where … there is a lot of things you could agree with in the speech, but the hypocrisy was unbelievable,” Moulton said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more hypocritical speech in my life.”
Pleased Republicans
Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, voiced disappointment and argued Vance had little standing to criticize Europe’s fractured politics when American politics are deeply divided too. She wished Vance had voiced stronger support for Ukraine, in line with his recent remarks to The Wall Street Journal.
“I walked away, to be honest, feeling like I am sorry for the continent of Europe, and I’m sorry for a significant population of America, maybe the majority of America, who I think will be disappointed with that speech,” Houlahan said.
One Democrat found some something nice to say, barely. Jason Crow from Colorado said he was relieved that Vance had not made any comments on America’s security commitment to Ukraine and Europe.
“I think alliances and partnerships, which are one of our core strength — the foundation of those should be when we focus on our shared values that we have in common, not policing or criticizing each other’s domestic politics, particularly not in policing each other’s domestic politics when our own house is not in order,” Crow said.
Unsurprisingly, Trump’s allies cheered the speech.
“Great speech by Vance,” Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator and Trump ally from South Carolina, said in a post immediately after the speech. “He explained to the European Elites in an eloquent and constructive manner the mood of the continent when it comes to mass migration, being told how to think, and efforts to control outcomes of elections.”
Graham co-led a bipartisan congressional delegation to the Munich conference made up of more than a dozen senators and House members.
“JD was spot on,” Graham said in the post, “and I know his speech resonated with millions of Europeans who are trying to regain control of their sovereignty and protect their way of life.”
Another Trump backer, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, cheered Vance’s speech in a social media post.
“Watch [Vance] lecture EUROCRATS at the Munich Security Conference on AMERICA FIRST,” said Mast, who is also at Munich.
Robbie Gramer contributed to this report.
The post US Democrats slam Vance Munich speech as ‘hypocrisy’ appeared first on Politico.
