Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly slammed Vice President JD Vance during for "lecturing Europeans" on "political tolerance" during his address to global leaders at the Munich Security Conference.
When asked during a CNN interview Friday who he believes Vance's target audience was for his scathing speech, Connolly stated, "the Steve Bannons and right-wing fringe that seems enamored with right-wing political movements here in Europe and in the United States."
The Virginia representative then called into question Elon Musk's recent firings through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
"Imagine lecturing Europeans about being afraid of their own electorate when it is Trump and Elon Musk who are firing FBI agents because they dare to do their duty, who are having loyalty tests at the national security council, who are firing tens of thousands of federal employees because they consider them part of the deep state and can't be trusted," Connolly told the outlet.
Connolly: "Imagine lecturing Europeans about being afraid of their own electorate when it is Trump and Elon Musk who are firing FBI agents because they dared to do their duty, who are having loyalty tests at the NSC ... you're gonna lecture others about political tolerance of… pic.twitter.com/4NOOgv5ioU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 14, 2025
"You're going to lecture others about political tolerance of free speech? That's a bit much," he added.
Throughout his nearly 20-minute speech, Vance repeatedly attacked European governments for retreating from their "most fundamental values" by censoring media, canceling elections, accepting immigrants and prioritizing political correction, according to reporting by The Guardian.
"What I worry about is the threat from within," Vance repeated while downplaying perceived threats from Russia and China.
The audience was apparently stunned by Vance's speech, which was met with silence, according to the BBC. Several world leaders have since spoken out against his comments, including German Defense Minister Boris Pistoriu, the European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas and former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, who called Vance's comments "insulting" and "just empirically not true."
Originally published by Latin Times
