In an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a pointed defense of free speech and democratic values, but the exchange was overshadowed by an embarrassing misstep from reporter Margaret Brennan.
While Rubio defended Vice President Vance’s Munich speech and the right to express differing opinions among democracies, Brennan’s remarks on free speech in Germany were immediately shut down.
During the interview, Brennan asserted that “you’re standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to commit a genocide.”
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Rubio immediately seized the moment to set the historical record straight. “Free speech was not weaponized to commit a genocide. The genocide was committed by an authoritarian Nazi regime,” Rubio said, emphasizing that Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state with no free speech or political opposition.
Rubio’s swift correction not only underscored the importance of accurate historical context but also exposed the flaw in Brennan’s framing.
In the same interview, Rubio defended Vice President Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, where Vance warned of an internal threat to democratic values in Europe, particularly regarding censorship and the marginalization of opposing viewpoints. “I thought he said a lot of things that needed to be said,” Rubio asserted, arguing that honest debate is the lifeblood of democracy—even when opinions differ.
Rubio further stated that engaging in frank discussions about free speech and democratic principles should not upset allies.
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“Why would our allies or anybody be irritated by free speech and by someone giving their opinion? We are, after all, democracies. 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,” Rubio said.
Rubio’s measured response, however, reminded viewers that historical accuracy and facts are crucial for informed discourse and for maintaining the credibility of democratic debate.
As the conversation moved forward, Rubio continued to stress that while free speech sometimes invites controversy, it is a fundamental pillar of democratic society that should never be compromised.
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