Rubio defends Vance’s Munich speech as CBS host suggests ‘free speech’ caused the Holocaust

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended Vice President JD Vance’s speech in Germany slamming Europe’s penchant for censorship on Sunday.

Rubio clashed with CBS host Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” after she suggested that free speech had been “weaponized” to bring about the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.

Brennan highlighted Vance’s speech to the Munich Security Conference in Germany last week, which criticized European allies for adopting a “soviet”-style approach to censorship.

“What did all of this accomplish, other than irritating our allies?” Brennan asked.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected claims from a CBS host that “free speech” caused the holocaust. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

“Why would our allies or anybody be irritated by free speech and by someone giving their opinion? We are, after all, democracies,” Rubio said. “The Munich Security Conference is largely a conference of democracies in which one of the things that we cherish and value is the ability to speak freely and provide your opinions. And so, I think if anyone’s angry about his words, they don’t have to agree with him, but to be angry about it, I think actually makes his point.”

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“Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide,” Brennan replied. “He met with the head of a political party that has far-right views and some historic ties to extreme groups. The context of that was changing the tone of it. And you know that.”

CBS Host Margaret Brennan claimed that Nazis had “weaponized” free speech “to conduct a genocide” in Germany. (Screenshot/CBS)

“Well, I have to disagree with you. No- I have- I have to disagree with you,” Rubio said as the pair talked over one another. “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 and they had a list of people they hated, but primarily the Jews.”

He added, “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. So that’s not an accurate reflection of history.”

Vice President JD Vance rebuked European allies for their penchant for censorship last week. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

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Rubio went on to reiterate Vance’s point that European leaders should be able to continue working with the U.S. and other like-minded nations despite facing criticism, at which point Brennan ended the segment.