The Daily Signal - JD Vance’s Message to European Leaders: Listen to Your People, Don’t Go Hard Left | Victor Davis Hanson

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

During his trip to Europe last week, Vice President JD Vance said to European leaders at the Munich Security Conference, “The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-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.” In the face of mounting inflation and rampant illegal immigration, Europe’s leaders must listen to their people and not take a “hard left,” plunging the country into a Joe Biden-level, continentwide nightmare, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “[Vance’s] criticism was multifaceted: Close your borders. Legal-only immigration. Up your defense budget. Allow for free speech. We've gone through the Biden nightmare at home. We know what it was like to go hard left. Don't go that way. Deregulate. ... “Germany and Europe better be very careful. Germany's fertility rate is 1.45. Europe's, in aggregate, is only about 1.5. We're at least 1.6. We said years ago in 2014, NATO, pay 2% of GDP and hold your own and pull your own weight. And now it's 10 years, 11 years later and we still have nine NATO countries that will not do it, especially Germany. ...  “They have 16% of the population was not born in Germany. France is almost as bad. And they do not assimilate, intermarry, and integrate like we do. They are looking at this huge Russian-Ukrainian war on their borders where maybe 1.5 million people have been killed or wounded or missing. And they're critical of the United States that pays the greatest proportion of the NATO budget and who puts Europe under its nuclear shield. And they are damning us.” For Victor’s latest thoughts, go to: https://victorhanson.com/   Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new video drops: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHqkXbgqrDrDVInBMSoGQgQ The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories like this one without the support of our viewers: https://secured.dailysignal.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk. Business. There has been a maelstorm of controversy about J.D. Vance. Last week, he spoke at the Munich Security Conference, but he chose not to speak just necessarily about security issues, i.e. NATO contributions, but rather the larger problem with Europe itself. And that controversy still continues today. Basically what J.D. Vance said was,

we have to get along. Europe and the United States, we are twins of the Western tradition. But my God, it's getting hard for you. They went crazy. They, oh my gosh, the the Defense Secretary, the Minister of Germany got right up. This is unsustainable. This is unacceptable. But nobody said it was untrue. It was absolutely true.

Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. There has been a maelstorm of controversy about J.D. Vance. Last week, he spoke at the Munich Security Conference, but he chose not to speak just necessarily about security issues, i.e. NATO contributions, but rather the larger problem with Europe itself. And that controversy still continues today. Basically what J.D. Vance said was, we have to get along. Europe and the United States, we are twins of the Western tradition. But my God, it's getting hard for you. You go after and persecute people who object to abortion. You take American tech companies and try to censor them, even when they

conduct interviews in the United States. When Elon Musk talked to Donald Trump on X, you wanted to, you being the collective of Europeans, you wanted to censor it. When an, when a election didn't go the way that the left wanted in Romania, they wanted to stop it. In fact, others have said within Germany that the alternative for Deutscheland, if they were to be a majority party in the next election, they might cancel it. So he said, this is not behoving. of us. They went crazy. They, oh my gosh, the defense secretary of the minister of Germany got right up. This is unsustainable. This is unacceptable. But nobody said it was untrue. It was absolutely true that the so-called libertine, free-loving, open society of Europe is very close. It's a one-party

system in the sense that they only allow left-wing views. It's to the left of the radical American Democratic Party. Germany should be very careful and also should Europe because the subtext of that speech wasn't explicitly voiced, but it was there. And his critics said, oh, he's just talking to the MAGA people at home. He wasn't. He wasn't talking to the French ministers. He wasn't talking to the MAGA people at home or the American people in general. He was talking to the people of Europe. and they support him because we are going to see possible radical changes in the German government, some Eastern European governments, but especially the French government and maybe the British government the next time. And they're going to be national populace. And he was telling them,

you have a right to stand up and do what? His criticism was multifaceted. Close your borders. Legal only immigration. Up your defense budget. Allow for free speech. We've gone through the Biden nightmare at home. We know what it was like to go hard left. Don't go that way. Deregulate, cut taxes, free up the economy. And they got very angry about that.

It was almost as if they knew that was true, but they could not admit it. But here's the subtext I'm talking about. Germany and Europe better be very careful. Germany's fertility rate is 1.45. Europe's in aggregate is only about 1.5. We're at least 1.6. We said years ago in 2014, NATO pay 2% of GDP and hold your own and pull your own weight. And now it's 10 years, 11 years later, and we still have nine NATO countries that will not do it, especially Germany. They only spend 1.5%. Their energy is four times ours, and BMW and Audi and Mercedes cannot compete.

Why? Because they've gone full green New Deal, so to speak, and shut down coal, nuclear natural gas plants. They have 16% of the population was not born in Germany. France is almost as bad, and they do not assimilate, intermarry, and integrate like we do. They are looking at this huge Russian-Ukrainian war in their borders where maybe 1.5 million people have been killed or wounded or missing, and they're critical of the United States that pays the greatest proportion of the NATO budget and who puts Europe under its nuclear shield, and they are damning us. They run a $240 billion surplus with trade. And how do they do it? because we're lazy and non-productive? No, we are more productive and we have cheaper power rates and a more open economy than they do, but they have asymmetrical tariffs. Add it all up. Add it all up, and Germany is in a very dependent place. So is Europe. J.D. Vance was trying to speak truth to power,

so to speak, and they didn't want to hear it. And what's going to happen in the next year, people in Europe are going to rise up, these populist movements. I think what he's telling all of them, this could be another start of a wonderful relationship, because these fossilized ossified governments do not reflect the people of Europe. This is Victor Davis-Hansson for The Daily Signal. Thank you for watching today's podcast. And for more news like that, subscribe to the Daily Signal. Maybe you can check out my own website at victorhansson.com for podcast, lectures, ultra-series,

behind a paywall, but more importantly, just daily columns that are accessible and free to everyone. Thank you very much.