J. D. Vance Shocks Europeans — for the Wrong Reasons
J. D. Vance offended European colleagues on Friday by publicly doubting that they are champions of democracy. Some of the examples he cited were spurious — but the EU establishment’s shocked reaction itself spoke to their unreflective groupthink.
J. D. Vance speaks at the Munich Security Conference on February 14, 2025, in Munich, Germany. (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)
It was meant to shock. And shock it did.
The European functionaries, heads of state, defense ministers, and NATO bigwigs assembled at Munich’s Bayerische Hof last Friday expected the US vice president to enlighten them on the peace plan for Ukraine just launched by President Donald Trump.
Instead, they were treated to a nineteen-minute diatribe on the betrayal of democratic values by European elites. Vance accused them of resorting to “Soviet-style words” to censure opinions that did not fit their groupthink, using extra-democratic means to exclude populist challengers from power, and more generally showing every sign of growing out of touch with electorates. According to Vance, this was the “enemy from within,” more dangerous than Russia or China.
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