JD Vance has proposed that U.S. support for NATO should be conditional on the European Union refraining from imposing regulations on Elon Musk and his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter).
In an interview with YouTuber Shawn Ryan, the Ohio senator and Republican vice-presidential nominee asserted that a senior EU official had allegedly threatened to arrest Musk if he permitted former President Donald Trump to return to the platform.
“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.
Trump’s running mate then suggested that US support for NATO should be used as a cudgel to get the Europeans in line.
“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 alleged 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.”
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According to the 2024 Global Expression Report, the U.S. ranks 26th globally for free speech, with several European Union member states placed higher on the list.
In July, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton commented on X, criticizing the platform’s blue-check verification system as misleading for users.
“Now X has the right of defence —but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines & require significant changes,” he added.
Musk who responded at the time, saying: “We look forward to a very public battle in court, so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”
“The European Commission offered X an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us. The other platforms accepted that deal. X did not,” he added in another post.
X could face disciplinary action under the EU Digital Services Act, implemented in 2022, which mandates that platforms are responsible for protecting European users from illegal content and disinformation.
In the same interview, Vance drew criticism for proposing a peace plan for the war in Ukraine that could potentially benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin, who considers NATO a primary adversary.
Ryan questioned Vance on Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine.
The senator responded that Trump would engage in discussions with Russian, Ukrainian, and European leaders, emphasizing the need for them to negotiate a peaceful resolution.
Vance also mentioned to Ryan that a potential peace agreement might allow Russia to retain the territory it has captured, establish a demilitarized zone along current frontlines, and secure a “neutrality guarantee” from Ukraine.
“What it probably looks like is something like the current line of demarcation between Russia and Ukraine becomes like a demilitarized zone, heavily fortified [so] the Russians don’t invade again,” he said.
Trump’s running mate also suggested that Europe, specifically Germany, and not Russia, would have to fund the rebuilding of Ukraine.
“Ukraine remains an independent sovereignty. Russia gets the guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine. It does not join NATO and some other allied institutions. Germans and other nations have to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction,” Vance added.
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