JD Vance has suggested that American support for NATO should be predicated on the European Union not regulating Elon Musk and his X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.

The Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio senator claimed in an interview with YouTuber Shawn Ryan that a top EU official had threatened to arrest the billionaire if he allowed former President Donald Trump back on X.

“The leader, I forget exactly which official it was within the European Union, but sent Elon this threatening letter that basically said, ‘We’re going to arrest you if you platform Donald Trump,’ who, by the way, is the likely next president of the United States,” Vance said in the interview published last week.


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  • njm1314@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    It’s an amazing thing to say you can abandon a military Alliance because a campaign donor ask you to.

    • psmgx@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      I think it’s Musk’s backers, the Russians who helped fund the twitter acquisition, who are really taking center stage.

      Lots of talk about Europe and NATO means they’re pushing hard for those talking points.

  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    6 days ago

    So what America should be saying is, if NATO wants us to continue supporting them and NATO wants us to continue to be a good participant in this military alliance, why don’t you respect American values and respect free speech?

    JD, buddy, what you don’t understand is that Europe’s free speech is far more free than the US.

    Americans have a tendency to think they have everything and everyone else has nothing. Until we go somewhere else and discover it’s the other way around.

    • TheBraveSirRobbin@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Americans have a tendency to think they have everything and everyone else has nothing. Until we go somewhere else and discover it’s the other way around.

      Obviously healthcare and education are things they are pretty much guaranteed that we don’t have. They have better worker protections. I mean I’m not against gun rights, but what we have in the States is an embarrassment. I’m sure there are several other issues that I’m not thinking of right now or don’t know about, but I didn’t know we had worse free speech than Europe.

      What makes Europe free speech more free than ours?

      • azuth@sh.itjust.works
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        6 days ago

        What makes the US have more free speech?

        Legally all EU countries have freedom of expression enshrined in their constitutions.

        Culturally I find Americans blind to any non governmental censorship. Since it’s legal its OK.I believe not allowing private companies to censor people is absurdly considered a violation of free speech.

        There are obvious results as well: the US is way less politically diverse.

  • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    “I’m not going to go to some backwoods country and tell them how to live their lives,”

    So he’s not just a weird couch fucker, he’s also totally ignorant of US foreign policy over the last hundred years.

    • Billiam@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      “I’m not going to go to some backwoods country and tell them how to live their lives,”

      What a weird thing for someone who served* in Iraq to say.

      *Vance served in Iraq the same way he fucks couches: from the rear.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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        6 days ago

        He “served” in the PR office.

        Trying to manipulate public opinion and distort facts has been his entire career.

  • dustyData@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    The gall of saying, that entirely different culture that’s been around for longer than our country, they should have our same values, right after calling them backwoods countries. The extreme narcissist egoism is palpable and disgusting.

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      He didn’t call the Europeans “backwoods countries”. He called those other places that. He specifically says that European countries should be more like us, for all the white right reasons…

  • FelixCress@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    “I’m not going to go to some backwoods country and tell them how to live their lives,” Vance added. “But European countries should theoretically share American values, especially about some very basic things like free speech.

    The US ranked 26th in the world when it comes to free speech, with several members of the European Union higher up the list, according to the 2024 Global Expression Report.

    😂😂😂

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
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      6 days ago

      “I’m not going to go to some backwoods country and tell them how to live their lives, but I’m going to go to some backwoods country and tell them how to live their lives!”

      Hate and Ignorance: The American Way™

      • Miles O'Brien@startrek.website
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        6 days ago

        WOAH there, slow down a bit.

        He would never go to some backwoods country and tell them how to live their lives.

        He will send OTHER people, no point in getting his shoes dirty by actually going there.

        It’s an American tradition.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    The fact checking in this article is perfect lol

    “So what America should be saying is, if NATO wants us to continue supporting them and NATO wants us to continue to be a good participant in this military alliance, why don’t you respect American values and respect free speech?” Vance asked. “It’s insane that we would support a military alliance if that military alliance isn’t going to be pro-free speech. I think we can do both. But we’ve got to say American power comes with certain strings attached. One of those is respect free speech, especially in our European allies.”

    Musk has been accused of banning several journalists since taking over Twitter, now X.

    “I’m not going to go to some backwoods country and tell them how to live their lives,” Vance added. “But European countries should theoretically share American values, especially about some very basic things like free speech.”

    The US ranked 26th in the world when it comes to free speech, with several members of the European Union higher up the list, according to the 2024 Global Expression Report.