FOR those in the UK and the EU not following US politics on a regular basis, there was a critically important reason why then-candidate and former President Donald J. Trump selected Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance as his running mate back in July of 2024.
While Vance did bring plenty of positives to the table – young, intelligent, articulate, unflappable, and a poverty-stricken childhood which gave him a connection with working-class America – there was one above all which most mattered to Trump.
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That being that Vance would carry on and build upon the Trump agenda.
Many in the US have come to realise that Vance is not only “Trump 3.0” in so many ways, but an advocate for Trump’s policies on steroids when it comes to what he personally believes.
A reality many in Europe just witnessed up close and personal when Vice President Vance delivered a long overdue wake-up call to the leaders of Europe with his anti-censorship, anti-unchecked immigration, defence of free speech remarks at the Munich Security Conference before a clearly hostile audience.
To that “hostile” point, Vance actually made Christoph Heusgen, the outgoing head of the conference, cry.
You simply can’t make this up.
What did the 40-year-old vice president of the United States say to make Heusgen break down in tears?
For starters, Vance correctly pointed out: “The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor.
“What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”
Vance then stared down the US allies at the conference and asked how they could be bastions of freedom while robbing a growing number of their citizens of free expression.
As many in the audience sat and glared at Vance for daring to raise these subjects in such a high-profile conference, he then delivered the knock-out punch: “If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.
“Nor, for that matter, is there anything that you can do for the American people that elected me and elected President Trump.”
Quite predictably, many on the far left and within the entrenched elites attacked Vance for his remarks.
One headline read: “Vance cosies up to Germany’s far-right, scolds E.U. leaders for not engaging with extremists.”
I would suggest to those elitists that they “read the room” when it comes to the working-class citizens of their respective countries – as in the vast majority of the population – as well as figure out ways to engage with the Trump-Vance administration rather than smearing the two men with juvenile insults in a vain search of praise from other far-left, out-of-touch elitists.
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The “extremists” the far-left and the entrenched elites refer to are often hard-working men and women living paycheck-to-paycheck seeking to survive in a system foisted upon them by wealthy elitists who never have to worry about the consequences of their own often ignorant or ideologically driven actions.
The “extremists” the far-left and elitists who want to censor and even jail, are often your family members, your neighbours, or your co-workers.
Men and women all across Europe – and in the US – are also deeply concerned about unchecked or illegal immigration and how that will — or currently does — affect their quality of life and safety.
Yet another subject the far-left and elitists scream should never be broached.
Unfortunately for them, JD Vance went there as well.
JD Vance rips into Britain and Europe over free speech and immigration policies
DONALD Trump’s number two blasted the continent at Munich Security Conference over free speech crackdowns amd immigration laws.
It came just a day after a horror car attack in the city left two dead and 36 people injured – including children.
Suspect Farhad N is being investigated by terror cops after he allegedly rammed a Mini Cooper into a group of demonstrators in the Bavarian capital on Thursday.
Cops initially said he is a 24-year-old Afghan who arrived in Germany as an asylum-seeker in 2016 before later rectifying their comments by saying Farhad N does have a work permit.
Vance, who himself incorrectly labelled the man an asylum seeker, used it as just one example of a concerning number of recent incidents across Europe.
He spoke about issues in Sweden where a man was seen burning the Koran in public before being killed in the city of Sodertalje.
And the annulled election in Romania which was said to have been heavily influenced by Russia.
The Vice President used many examples of to tell European officials that many of the continent’s issues stem from “unvetted immigration”.
He lectured the audience by saying their nation’s citizens “didn’t vote to open floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants”.
VP Vance also took aim at Britain as he heavily criticised the government for its “backsliding” free speech laws.
He said: “When I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners.
“And perhaps most concerningly, I look to our very dear friends, the United Kingdom, where the backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs.”
He used the example of 51-year-old Adam Smith-Connor who was jailed for breaching a safe zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.
Vance explained: “After British law enforcement spotted him and demanded to know what he was praying for, Adam replied simply, it was on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before.”
The conviction was later confirmed to be unrelated to Smith-Connor’s thoughts while he was in the safe zone.
Vance then hit out at Scotland for similar complaints over “safe access zones” designed to stop anti-abortion campaigners.
His speech ended with him urging the whole of Europe to look towards his boss Donald Trump’s leadership.
He said: “In Britain, and across Europe, free speech I fear is in retreat.
“In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town and under Donald Trump’s leadership we may disagree with your views but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square, agree or disagree.”
His comment was met with a muted applause as he walked off stage.
The US vice president stressed there is “nothing more urgent” than countering the issue of mass migration that has come to Europe.
Vance then went on: “Almost one in five people living in this country moved here from abroad. That is, of course, an all-time high.
It’s a similar number, by the way, in the United States, also an all-time high. And we know the situation. It didn’t materialize in a vacuum.
It’s a result of a series of conscious decisions made by politicians all over the continent and others across the world over a decade.”
Note to the leaders in the UK and the EU, Vance is not being the least bit controversial.
At least not to the working-class citizens of your nations.
Rather, he is raising subjects which are on their minds every single day of their lives.
About the UK in particular, Vance mentioned that the Brexit movement had been the only truly democratic response to European nations letting “open the floodgates to millions of illegal immigrants. Agree or disagree,” he continued, “they voted for it.
And more and more, all over Europe, they’re voting for political leaders who promise an end to out-of-control migration.”
Again, the far-left which controls the majority of the media in the UK and the EU will label such populists as “extremists.”
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But as they do, they might want to take a moment to notice what JD Vance and President Trump already know.
That means that these “extremists” are opening their eyes, asking questions, and seeking new leaders with common-sense solutions.
A number of senior officials in the Starmer government have smeared Trump with vile language in the past.
As we have seen after Vance spoke in Munich, many on the left have openly insulted him as well.
Maybe the name-calling “diplomats” in the UK and the EU need a refresher course in “International Relations 101.”
Childishly insulting the leaders of the United States will not produce the desired results.
Like no other president in modern US history, Trump is delivering on his promises at breakneck speed.
And because he is, his popularity is rising.
There is a better-than-even chance that when Trump’s term ends in 2028, JD Vance will succeed him as president.
This means the UK and the EU will have to deal with this administration for the next eight years at least.
Rather than name-calling and crying, why not seek out common ground?
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the book: The 56 – Liberty Lessons from those who risked all to sign The Declaration of Independence.
