CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan had nothing to say after Secretary of State Marco Rubio brutally countered her weak argument that the Nazis somehow "weaponized" free speech to conduct a genocide.
The "Face the Nation" exchange came Sunday morning during a discussion about Vice President JD Vance's incredible speech in Munich, Germany on Friday, in which he roasted European leaders to their faces for their horrible positions on unchecked immigration and free speech.
The speech predictably drew howls of protest from Europeans who for the past four years were doubtless unused to being criticized by an American administration. German president Olaf Scholz called Vance's words "not appropriate," and German defense minister Boris Pistorius called them "unacceptable."
Well, bless their hearts.
🇩🇪🇺🇸🚨‼️ German defense minister pushes back on Vance and says his speech was “unacceptable”!
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) February 14, 2025
Then lies, pretending nobody is censored, debunked or jailed in Germany for the wrong opinion, what is wrong!
He also pretends that the German party AFD is being treated as a normal… pic.twitter.com/5Nl8mTaleL
Eloquently defending Vance's speech, Rubio, who is growing on me, said:
I think if anyone is angry about his words – they don’t have to agree with him but to be angry about it I think actually makes his point. I think it was actually a pretty historic speech. Whether you agree with him or not I think the valid points he is making to Europe is we are concerned that the true values we share, the values that bind us together with Europe, are things like free speech and democracy and our shared history and winning two world wars and defeating Soviet communism and the like ... and when you see backsliding and you raise that, that’s a very valid concern.
We can’t tell them how to run their countries. He’s simply expressed in a speech his view of it, which a lot of people frankly share. And I thought he said a lot of things in that speech that needed to be said and honestly I don’t know why anybody would be upset about it. You don’t have to agree with someone’s speech. I happen to agree with a lot of what he said but you don’t have to agree with someone’s speech to at least appreciate the fact they have a right to say it and that you should listen to it and see whether those criticisms are valid. I assure you the United States has come under withering criticism on many occasions from many leaders in Europe and we don’t go around throwing temper tantrums about it.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defends @JDVance's "historic" speech last week in Munich, leaves ABC's Margaret Brennan speechless after she tries to claim that free speech was "weaponized" by the Nazis. Incredible exchange: 👇 pic.twitter.com/GYLZfopVwP
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) February 16, 2025
Brennan interrupted Rubio with the claim that Vance was "standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide." She then went on to criticize the vice president for meeting with Germany's "far right" Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, despite the fact that he also met with leaders of other major German political parties. There is also the fact that Europeans consider any party that doesn't want to invite the entire world "far right." Even more disturbing, Brennan defended the censorship by claiming it was "specifically about the right."
Rubio not only vehemently disagreed with the CBS anchor, but countered with facts:
"I have to disagree with you," he responded. "Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide. The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated Jews and they hated minorities ... There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. There was none. There was also no opposition in Nazi Germany. They were the sole and only party that governed that country, and so that’s not an accurate reflection of history."
Rubio defended Vance's point about the "erosion in free speech and intolerance for opposing points of view" in Europe.
When the secretary of state was finished, Brennan had nothing to say except that they were out of time. How convenient.
Whether you love or hate what is being said, if you don't believe in their right to say it you are a totalitarian. Counter speech you dislike with facts, but don't try to suppress it. Else you become the very thing you think you're fighting against. It's great to see the highest levels of American government defending THESE values in places that increasingly need it the most.
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