UK PM Squirms as J.D. Vance Calls Out His “Infringements on Free Speech” to His Face
Vice President J.D. Vance didn’t hold back when calling out British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the United Kingdom’s “infringements on free speech” during Starmer’s visit to the White House on Thursday.
Vance, seated next to President Donald Trump, reminded Starmer of his country’s rapid decline in free speech protections.
“[W]e… know that there have been infringements of free speech that actually affect not just the British—of course, what the British do in their own country is up to them—but also affect American technology companies and by extension American citizens, so that is something that we’ll talk about today at lunch,” the Vice President said.
Starmer, who appeared visibly nervous, responded, “We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in, in, the United Kingdom, and, uh, uh, it will last for a very, very long time.”
“Certainly, we wouldn’t wanna reach across U.S. citizens, and we don’t, and that’s absolutely right,” he added.
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Meanwhile, a body language expert analyzed Starmer’s awkward exchange, stating that his “eggshell treading reached thermonuclear proportions.”
READ: UK Govt Warns Americans They Could Be Arrested While In Country For Social Media Posts Written Back Home
“It was like a scene from Meet the Fockers, where you are meeting the in-laws for the first time and you have to laugh at the Dad’s jokes, you mustn’t swear,” said political presentation coach Graham Davies.
“His eggshell treading reached thermonuclear proportions. He was very careful but didn’t get too submissive.”
Despite Starmer’s insistence that the UK upholds free speech, British citizens are frequently arrested, charged, and even imprisoned for “offensive” social media posts or sharing “inaccurate information.”
Earlier this month, Vance rebuked European leaders over censorship, specifically criticizing the UK’s crackdown on free speech.
“To too many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,” Vance said at the Munich Security Conference.
The Vice President warned that free speech was “in retreat” across the continent, cautioning that no democracy can survive by dismissing millions of voters as irrelevant.
The German defense minister responded to Vance’s speech, claiming that all voices are heard in Europe, even those from “partly extremist” parties like the AfD.
However, he failed to acknowledge the widespread crackdown on free speech across Europe, including in Germany and the UK.
“He speaks as though we are not focused on immigration in Europe,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre complained.
READ: British PM Keir Starmer: Elon Musk Is “Spreading Lies and Misinformation”