Vice President J.D. Vance slammed CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan after she linked the Holocaust to Adolf Hitler’s “weaponized” free speech, following his meeting with far-right leaders in Germany.
In a post on X, Vance reacted to a clip from Brennan’s interview with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Face the Nation. During the segment, Brennan questioned Rubio about Vance’s recent remarks on Germany and his meeting with leaders from the far-right political group Alternative for Germany (AfD).
“This is a crazy exchange,” Vance posted. “Does the media really think the Holocaust was caused by free speech?”
Brennan took issue with Vance’s position, referencing his speech in which he argued that censorship is Europe’s greatest threat. She also pointed out that Vance had met with the head of AfD, a party with ties to extreme right-wing groups, while in Germany.
Rubio responded, questioning why Vance’s use of free speech should be criticized, especially given that it was a fundamental right for expressing opinions about European laws.
Brennan, however, pushed back. She argued that Vance’s comments were controversial because they were made in Germany—a country with a painful history tied to the Holocaust.
“Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct genocide, and he met with the head of a political party that has far-right views and some historic ties to extreme groups,” Brennan said. “The context of that was changing the tone of it. And you know that.”
Rubio swiftly disagreed with her. “Well, I have to disagree with you … I have to disagree with you. 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,” he said.
Vance echoed Rubio’s defense, blasting Brennan’s comparison.
However, while free speech was not the direct cause of genocide, it is important to note that Adolf Hitler’s regime did use propaganda and hate speech to dehumanize Jews and other minorities. By spreading harmful and false narratives, the Nazi government made it acceptable for people to hate, discriminate, and ultimately justify the horrific acts that led to the Holocaust. The abuse of free speech in this context played a key role in fostering an environment that enabled such atrocities to unfold.
Watch the exchange below via X.
This is the first time I’ve heard the theory that the Holocaust wasn’t conducted with gas chambers but with free speech zones. pic.twitter.com/mpWm6UH2F4
— Michael Brendan Dougherty (@michaelbd) February 16, 2025
