The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Europe Needs A MAGA-Styled Counter Revolution. Rubio Reminds Them Why

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

When there’s a problem, call Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s “fireman.” Last week, Marco Rubio, in keeping with the tradition started by Vice President JD Vance last year, painted a sobering picture of Europe’s future. But with a twist. Rubio did not gloat or talk down to his fellow world leaders. Instead, he glorified America’s European heritage—a very controversial statement amongst leftists who try to distance themselves from Western norms and cultures—saying that Europe is poised to make the same mistakes America has already made:  letting in 10 million illegal aliens, replacing meritocracy with DEI, failing to maintain military superiority, and forgoing energy independence. Europe is currently backsliding because it, unlike America, does not have a continent full of Donald Trumps to bring about a counterrevolution, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words:” “It really enhanced the position of Marco Rubio because he's sort of become Trump's fireman. When there's a problem that seems unsolvable or that people, whether it's in Panama or whether it's in the Middle East or whether it's in the Western Hemisphere, people call on Rubio. “And I think we should watch that very carefully because I think we're going to enter into the 2028 race, not with a Vance-Rubio vice president, but with two strong candidates.” 👉 The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: http://dailysignal.com/donate 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest short videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠  Also on Spotify: https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9753340027  👉Want more VDH? Watch Victor’s weekly, hour-long podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” now! Subscribe to his YouTube channel, and enable notifications:  https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1 👉More exclusive content is available on Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I think all of us have had some news of Marco Rubio's impressive speech at the Munich Security Conference. It really enhanced the position of Marco Rubio because he's sort of become Trump's fireman, and there's a problem that seems unsolable. People call on Rubio. He made it clear that in the age of DEI, we are a European country in the sense that our legacy was Europe and in particularly Great Britain, but our laws, our language, our literature, our institutions, they're wester. That was kind of a controversial thing to say when people on the DEI woke side say, no, we're indigenous people or we're from Africa or something. But what he was trying to say is you're a kindred civilization, you're our mother's civilization. He wasn't criticizing them in the

traditional fashion, but he was saying that we made the same mistakes. The only difference, as he implied, was that you haven't got really yet a continent of Donald Trump's to wage a counter-revolution. A lot of people don't like to be told the truth in Europe, but they understand that economically, financially, militarily, and politically, they are in a crisis. And it needed somebody to deliver this message. So it was a big success. You got a standing ovation at the end. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. I think all of us have had some news of Marco Rubio's very, very.

impressive speech at the Munich Security Conference. Remember, this is where the Europeans have pushed back on criticism. A year ago, J.D. Vance tried to enlighten them that they were on a pathward toward civilizational decline, and one of the manifestations of that was debt, energy problems, borders, censorship. And they didn't react well to that. They didn't react very well either when Donald Trump said it was a concern of Europe and the United States that Greenland be defended, especially in the age of these new hypersonic missiles coming into the West from the Arctic Circle from either China or Russia. That didn't go down well because of the way that they felt Trump was bullying them. But this was a different speech.

It had three or four components that were very persuasive. He got a standing ovation at the end. The first was he made it clear that we all. In the age of DEI, we are a European country in the sense that our legacy was Europe and particularly Great Britain, but our laws, our language, our literature, our institutions, they're Western. That was kind of a controversial thing to say when people on the DEI woke side say, no, we're indigenous people or we're from Africa or something. But what he was trying to say is that we feel that you're kindred. You're a kindred civilization. You're our mother's civilization.

He gave a lot of examples about cities in America. New Amsterdam was, you know, Amsterdam Netherlands was New York. And he tried to point out how we came to be. And then he moved on that he wasn't criticizing them in the traditional fashion, but he was saying that we made the same messes. stakes. The only difference, as he implied, he inferred he was not explicit. He was implicit was that you haven't got really yet a continent of Donald Trump's to wage a counter-revolution. But yes, we had let in 10 million people on an open border. Yes, we destroyed meritocracy for four or

five years with DEI. Yes, we bought into critical legal and critical race theory that made exemptions based on one superficial appearance from the normal application of the law. Yes, our defenses were not what they should be, that we have neglected, especially the prior four years, in maintaining a predominant or superior American fleet, Air Force, and Army. And yes, he said in addition that you can't have a society. It won't function. It won't function. It won't function. if you don't have fossil fuels or nuclear power, especially in Europe. It doesn't have the, most of Europe is to the north of us. It doesn't have the advantages that we do.

And even with our southern states, solar and wind are too undependable to predicate an entire economy on them. The third thing he did was, he was saying that we want a strong NATO. Maybe we're inelegant sometimes, but the more that a 500 million person in Europe can defend itself, the better it is for us in a couple of reasons. We're a distant power across the Atlantic Ocean, but we can offer lift capacity, logistics, nuclear deterrence, and we want to work with Europe, but because they're on the continent and there's a war raging in Russia, they have to be the frontline troops. We're there to help them, but we can't take the prime. We can't, we can't take the

primary role because we have obligations for the West worldwide. And that brought up one of the fourth things that he said was if Europe would arm itself with a population of 500 million plus, we're only about 340 million, then that would free up some of our resources to address common European and common American threats, such as China in the Pacific or Iran or problems in the Middle East. After all, we have to keep the Straits of Burmuse, the South China Sea, the Red Sea open, and that benefits Europe. But we can't do that if we have a disarmed Europe while we are tied down in Europe and in Asia. And then, of course, implicitly said we had the same common enemies. So it was a big success.

He got a standing ovation. A lot of people don't like to be told the truth in Europe, but they understand. understand that economically, financially, militarily, and politically, they are in a crisis. And it needed somebody to deliver this message. What was nice about the timing was that J.D. Vance, as I said, and Trump had given the tough love version, and he came and gave the good cop version. I could mix my metaphors. One final note, it really enhanced the position of Marco Rubio because he's

sort of become Trump's fireman, then there's a problem that seems unsolable or that people, whether it's in Panama or whether it's in the Middle East or whether it's in the Western hemisphere, people call on Rubio. And I think we should watch that very carefully because I think we're going to enter into the 2008 race, not with a Vance, Rubio Vice President, but with two strong candidates, then I don't know if the nomination is to be. decided. I think it's up for grab. This is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to the Daily Signal. Please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more content like this. You can also check out my own website at victorhansen.com and subscribe

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