European leaders upset by Vice President JD Vance’s recent remarks in Munich should consider listening to their own citizens’ concerns instead of worrying about fellow elites, say U.S. conservatives who attended a global conference in London.
Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts spoke to a group of reporters after the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London on Tuesday evening GMT. The conference is intended to bring together those with a vision of citizen empowerment throughout the world and is associated with Canadian psychologist and media commentator Jordan Peterson.
Vance had previously told the Bavarian confab of world leaders that “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 – 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.”
Vance also criticized what he called “cavalier” and “shocking” fearmongering about a right-wing German party in the upcoming chancellor elections.
“What JD Vance was saying to Munich just the other day was a recognition that it is not for our governments to control our lives and in order to make sure that we have the freedom and liberties that we need to order our own lives and make our own decisions,” Hageman said.
The Wyoming lawmaker, who unseated Liz Cheney in what was similarly seen as a populist win over the political establishment, spoke of what she called a “new hope” for global conservatism to prevail against “backsliding” governments that put in place onerous regulations instead of listening to the people.
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Roberts, meanwhile, offered advice to world leaders like German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who expressed outrage at Vance’s speech – in which the vice president warned of such proverbial backsliding from the West’s “most fundamental values,” like free speech and government responsiveness to the populace.
Roberts said the reaction appears limited to a “small number of very vocal European leaders like [Scholz] and unfortunately, is emblematic of what we’ve seen the last few years.”
“[Scholz] and particularly [France’s Emmanuel Macron] and a couple of other leaders like to wag their finger at Americans and say we must do more to defend their interests when they themselves don’t make enough sacrifices to spend the requisite spending for defense as part of their annual budgets,” Roberts said.
“And that’s the kind of commonsense revolution that [Vance and President Donald Trump] are bringing to both domestic politics and foreign policy.”
Referencing conversations he’s had while in London and at the conference, Roberts said he and Hageman are “translating” American conservative policies outlined by people like Vance to the Europeans – and they are being receptive.
“The translation would be easier if more of these European leaders were more engaged in common sense,” he said.
“Maybe having a beer with everyday Germans rather than spending so much time in Brussels (at the EU).”
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Scholz had expressed outrage at Vance’s nod to the right-wing Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) party in Berlin’s upcoming elections. The party, while aligning with some of the global right’s economic principles, also has what critics consider select callbacks to the Nazi Party, which was banned in Germany post-World War II.
“Today’s democracies in Germany and Europe are founded on the historic awareness and realization that democracies can be destroyed by radical anti-democrats,” Scholz said this week.
“And this is why we’ve created institutions that ensure that our democracies can defend themselves against their enemies and rules that do not restrict or limit freedom but protect it.”