A great democratic speech

Let’s talk about the Trump administration and the US’s relationship with Europe. It was three years since Russia invaded Ukraine, on 24 February 2022, and the Lisbon City Council discussed official documents to mark the date. The communists wanted weapons on the other side and pacifists on this side. Whoever is on the other side deserves the communists’ unconditional love as long as they oppose capitalism and liberal democracies. The other parties presented respectable documents. One of these documents, which supported Ukraine, accused the US of having ceased to be a “reliable ally for Europe” after Trump’s election.

This bold conclusion was partly based on the “insults against Europe” that US Vice President JD Vance delivered in his speech at the Munich Conference almost two weeks ago. A misinterpretation of the speech and the facts.

It was a security conference, and he was expected to speak about security and defense. JD Vance spoke. He began by warning that his presence and the relationship between the two sides of the Atlantic were based on the “common values” between the US and Europe. He recalled the terrorist attack that had taken place there, in Munich, the day before. And he continued: Normally the idea of ​​“security is associated with external military threats”; he “believes” that the Trump administration “will achieve a reasonable agreement between Russia and Ukraine”; however, “the most worrying threat (for Europe) is not Russia, it is not China, it is not any external agent. The most worrying threat is an internal threat”: “Europe has moved away from some of its most fundamental values, values ​​that are shared with the US”.

He gave examples: the annulled elections in Romania; and the possibility, publicly raised by a former European Commissioner, of the same happening in Germany in the event of an AfD victory. And he concluded: “It is not enough to talk about democratic values, we must live them”.

He recalled that “during the Cold War there was a side that censored dissidents, closed churches, and cancelled elections”, and that “you cannot force people to feel, think, or believe”. But now “the victors of the Cold War” want to close social networks for “hate speech”; and they persecute people for writing “anti-feminist” comments as part of an unbelievable “fight against misogyny” on the internet. And they condemned a person for “praying silently for three minutes” “less than 200 meters from an abortion clinic”. He was referring to Adam Smith-Connor, a veteran of the British army, who prayed “on behalf of his unborn child: he and his ex-girlfriend had had an abortion a few years earlier”.

“Freedom of expression is increasingly restricted across Europe,” and the US wants to help Europe regain it: “There’s a new sheriff in Washington. Under Donald Trump, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to express them in the public square.” And as for the pretext of Russia’s interference in social media, JD Vance was clear: “If your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn’t a very strong democracy to begin with.”

And he warned European leaders: “If you run for office out of fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you. Nor is there anything you can do for the American people who elected me and President Trump.”

As he neared the end, JD Vance referred to the excess of immigration, saying that “across Europe, people are increasingly voting for leaders who promise to control mass immigration.” He defined “the magic of democracy,” explaining that it “does not lie in stone buildings” or “in the great institutions that we build together as a shared society.” He was once again clear: “To believe in democracy is to understand that every citizen has wisdom and a voice.” He ended by quoting Pope John Paul II: “Do not be afraid.”

I ask in advance for your understanding of the quotations from the speech, all of which are mine and very free, because I reconstructed them from notes taken in a notebook. More or less literally, this was the speech I heard. Perhaps those who are disappointed in expecting military help from the US, which in fact does not seem to be forthcoming, are right. But those who felt relief at Trump's victory and recognize it as incalculable help in cultural and political matters are certainly right. Those who imagine offenses in the words of this administration are wrong, because it did not offend Europe: it offended the self-righteous politicians who have governed Europe based on major blows to the foundations of democracy. Never has a dictatorship been characterized by excessive freedom of expression. Nor has a “threat to democracy” ever materialized in the sharing of a civilization, in the demand for the return of individual freedoms, in respect for privacy and spirituality, or in the rejection of overbearing governance.