J.D. Vance Brings the Culture War to Europe: ‘There Is a New Sheriff in Town’
The Munich Security Conference in Germany this weekend was supposed to host the opening salvo of the Trump administration’s peace initiative for Ukraine. But Vice President J.D. Vance dedicated only a few words of his Munich speech on Friday to the war there: “The Trump administration is very concerned with European security and believes that we can come to a reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine.”
Instead, Vance’s speech brought America’s domestic culture war to the global stage. “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,” he said. “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.”
It’s a strange mirror of the Biden administration, which tried to tie its foreign policy to its domestic agenda. Former President Joe Biden began his administration promising a “foreign policy for the middle class” and a global alliance of democracies, with Europe as the centerpiece. The Trump administration is similarly kicking off its foreign policy agenda with a lecture to Europe about democracy—but in favor of conservative rather than progressive values.
Vance framed his address as a defense of free speech. “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 them in the public square,” Vance said. He cited some egregious violations, including a Romanian election that was annulled over Russian interference conspiracy theories, a British man who was convicted of silently praying outside an abortion clinic, and a Swedish man convic
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