Vice President JD Vance joked to the crowd at the Munich Security Conference on Friday that if the United States can survive “10 years” of climate activist Greta Thunberg’s “scolding,” then they can survive “a few months of Elon Musk.”
“Contrary to what you might hear a couple mountains over in Davos, the citizens of all of our nations don’t generally think of themselves as educated animals or as interchangeable cogs of a global economy,” the vice president said in Germany. “And it’s hardly surprising that they don’t want to be shuffled about or relentlessly ignored by their leaders.”
“It is the business of democracy to adjudicate these big questions at the ballot box. I believe that dismissing people, dismissing their concerns, or worse yet, shutting down media, shutting down elections, or shutting people out of the political process protects nothing. In fact, it is the most surefire way to destroy democracy,” Vance continued. “And speaking up and expressing opinions isn’t election interference. Even when people express views outside your own country and even when those people are very influential.”
“And trust me, I say this with all humor, if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk,” Vance added. It did not appear to prompt the reaction Vance may have hoped for, as there was not much audible laughter from the audience.
“What no democracy — American, German, or European — will survive is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief are invalid or unworthy of even being considered,” the vice president carried on.
