CBS host Margaret Brennan sparked outrage with what many called an "incredibly dumb" and "deeply ignorant" statement. She claimed Nazi Germany "weaponized free speech" during her show on Sunday.
The "Face the Nation" host clashed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They debated Vice President JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. After Vance criticized Europe for censorship, Brennan implied free speech led to the Holocaust.
"Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide," Brennan said. "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."
Rubio quickly pushed back. "Well, I have to disagree with you. No—I have—I have to disagree with you," he said as they spoke over each other. "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 didn’t stop there. "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," Rubio said.
The exchange exploded online. Conservatives slammed Brennan for her "bonkers" take on Nazi Germany. Many called for CBS to fire her.
"Wow. Margaret Brennan ACTUALLY claims that the Holocaust happened because ‘free speech was weaponized’ in Nazi Germany," activist Robby Starbuck wrote. "She’s incredibly dumb, a blatant Democrat propagandist, or both. Doesn’t really matter which it is. @CBSNews should fire her over this."
Radio host Erick Erickson also weighed in. "Can we just talk about how a prominent American news anchor actually believes Nazi Germany had free speech and that supposed free speech is to blame for the Holocaust? That’s both deeply arrogant and deeply ignorant," he said.
Others echoed the outrage. "Anyone claiming ‘free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide’ in Nazi Germany is either profoundly ignorant or deliberately lying," author Hans Mahncke wrote. "The Nazis didn’t ‘weaponize’ free speech, they abolished it. No one pushing nonsense like this should be allowed anywhere near a newsroom."
RedState writer Bonchie put it bluntly. "This is bonkers. Like pull her off the air bonkers," he wrote.
The Federalist CEO Sean Davis mocked the comment. "Welp. I guess that means Trump needs to shut down CBS to prevent another Holocaust," he joked. "Not the path I would’ve chosen, but if Margaret Brennan says that allowing CBS to just say whatever it wants will lead to another Holocaust, who am I to argue? Better to be safe and shut down CBS than be sorry you let CBS bring Hitler back."
National Review editor Philip Klein joined in. "If it weren’t for the famously robust 1st Amendment protections in Nazi Germany, the Jews might have stood a chance," he quipped.
"‘[F]ree speech helped cause the holocaust’ is a new one," Targeted Victory vice president Logan Dobson remarked.
Vice President JD Vance himself reacted to the clip. He didn’t hold back. "This is a crazy exchange. Does the media really think the Holocaust was caused by free speech?" he asked.
Vance also made headlines Friday. His speech blasted European leaders for embracing censorship under the guise of fighting "misinformation."
"To 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,’" Vance said. "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."