VIENNA, Austria – The EU-US Forum, an American nonprofit organization that shines a light on the harmful policies coming out of the EU in order to stop them from spreading to the US, hosted a fireside chat discussion in Vienna, Austria with Former Ambassador to Germany and Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and Guy Benson, Fox News Contributor, nationally-syndicated radio host, Townhall political editor, author, and columnist.

Grenell and Benson discussed the future of EU-US relations as well as current events, including the EU’s attempt to censor President Trump’s X Spaces interview and the nomination of Kamala Harris. Grenell notably shared his insights about the possibility of a future Trump Administration and how President Trump would approach global matters in his second term.

Watch a recording of the event HERE.

Ambassador Richard Grenell calls EU bureaucrats “enemies of free speech:

BENSON: There was this little contretemps back home in the last 24 hours, Donald Trump did this lengthy interview or conversation with Elon Musk on Twitter or X, and it went a couple hours. I read that there were a million people who watched. And leading up to it, there’s a lot of hand-wringing in the American press. You saw someone on CNN expressing concern that Donald Trump would be able to say whatever he wanted to say, which is literally free speech. And they were concerned about that. We had a Washington Post reporter ask the press secretary at the White House, ‘Could the president or the administration do anything to stop this conversation?’ And then there was this missive, this letter, fired off by some EU Commissar, almost threatening, sort of saber rattling, about free speech and harmful content and that sort of thing surrounding this conversation. The Trump campaign put out quite a statement in response to that EU official calling the EU broadly enemies of free speech. Do you agree with that?

GRENELL: Yeah, of course, they are enemies of free speech. First of all, the two Americans talking about what’s going on, talking about the election, is all about freedom of speech, if someone is going to try to have a chilling effect to say they shouldn’t be able to speak freely because there’s hate speech or misinformation, first of all, this misinformation nonsense has got to stop. It’s not misinformation. Sometimes it’s someone’s opinion, and the best way to confront something that you don’t agree with is to speak out and give your facts and let people decide. There should never be a government agency or entity deciding to stop dissent because they think they know what’s right.”

Ambassador Richard Grenell on the advice he gives to world leaders when asked how to prepare for another Trump term:

BENSON: You speak on a regular basis with world leaders, heads of state, that sort of thing. I’d imagine you have conversations that go something like this, ‘If Trump wins again, and he’s president again, what should I do to prepare myself, my country, for what the world will look like under American leadership, with Donald Trump at the helm?’ Broad strokes, what is the advice that you would give, generically, whether it’s, you know, Macron, you know, go down a list.

GRENELL: I think it’s pretty simple, and I do get this question a lot, not just from world leaders, but from all sorts of people and the media, constantly asking, ‘What is the world going to be like if Trump wins?’ I push back and I just say, You know. You saw him for four years. I believe that when America puts itself first, that the world benefits, because we are not a nation that conquers and takes. We are a nation that establishes rule of law, respect, democracy, capitalism. Those rules are what everybody wants. They don’t always abide by them, but those are the international rules that are the best, that make the best system. I’m really proud of America when we put ourselves first because we establish rules that benefit everybody else. America First doesn’t meet America alone. It means we create a system that’s fair, and then there’s kind of the coalition of the willing on different issues.”

Matt Mowers, founding board member of the EU-US Forum and former Senior White House Advisor at the U.S. Department of State, spoke about Brussels bureaucrats ignoring the will of European voters who demanded change at the EU:

“The problem is this: Brussels is still ignoring the will of the voters, because they refuse to actually change any of the leadership that is emanating out of Brussels, despite the fact that the voters of Europe and the European Union sent a loud and clear message of a new direction. That they wanted a direction that involved stronger border controls, decentralized control so people could live their lives, a protection of free speech… they’ve ignored that because they want to hold on to the political power.”

Ambassador Richard Grenell called Kamala Harris “the most radical nominee America has ever seen:”

Kamala Harris is by far the most woke Democrat in California. She is radical by her own words. She’s questioned red meat, she doesn’t think we should have read meat because it’s bad for the environment. She is on video saying ‘You got to be woke. You actually got to be really woke. You got to be more woke than anybody else.’ She’s on video saying, ‘I want to ban fracking. I want to get rid of ICE, cops: Don’t help on the streets.’ She’s literally the most radical nominee America has ever seen. She’s a San Francisco radical.”

The post At EU-US Forum Event, Richard Grenell Calls EU Bureaucrats “Enemies of Free Speech” After Their Attempt to Censor Trump X Spaces Interview appeared first on THE EU-US FORUM.

Welcome to the EU-US Forum Weekly Tip Sheet, your go-to product for information about the EU-US Forum and its work, timely updates on the dangerous far-left ideas coming out of the European Union, and detailed analysis on the key players influencing European politics.

We send this out weekly to keep you apprised of the most important political and policy topics in Europe as we continue to work toward our mission of exposing the EU’s radical agenda and the threat it poses to the US and Western Civilization.

1. “BLANK CHECK” TO ILLEGALS: Germany’s far-left ruling coalition is making it easier to grant unvetted illegal migrants work permits all in the name of “reducing bureaucracy.”

From the European Conservative:

“The proposal would mean that if an employer submits an application for a work permit to immigration authorities, and the application is not rejected within two weeks, the permit will be seen as granted—a Genehmigungsfiktion, or ‘fictive permit.’ The approximately 700 German immigration authority offices currently handle around 10,000 new asylum applications every month.”

The typical wait time for approval on an asylum application, which grants working rights, is eight months. With this new push, virtually all “asylum seekers” will be allowed to stay in the country and start working nearly immediately.

This is an incredible risk to not only Germany, but the EU’s national security. If the existing open border policy was not enough of a national security threat, Germany is on its way to exponentially increase that threat.

More on Immigration:

• Breitbart: Mass Migration to Britain Drives Fastest Population Rise Recorded History
• European Conservative: Finnish Parliament Passes New Border Control Legislation
• @EUUSForum: The Irish government sides with illegal immigrants over the citizens they were elected to serve. The Irish must fight back.
• @Mick_O_Keeffe: Some of the largest protests in Ireland have taken place in Coolock. The government made a big mistake trying to force migrants on these people. They will not back down.
• @MichelleDewbs: Park Lane. One of the most prestigious addresses in London. One of the most expensive places on the Monopoly board. Here is what it looks like right now
• @Mick_O_Keeffe:Dundrum “Stop forcing these situations on ordinary people.” Residents of Dundrum are out protesting after the announcement that 280 migrants will be planted in their village of 165 people.

2. MACRON DELAYS THE INEVITABLE: After their centrist party’s loss in recent snap elections, French President Emmanuel Macron is seemingly seeking to delay the far-Lefts inevitable takeover.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal immediately handed his resignation to Macron after the far-left beat their party in the recent elections. Since the French far-left party holds the most seats, but not an outright majority, the Assembly needs to come to an agreement to immediately assign a new Prime Minister.

BUT HERE’S THE KICKER: Macron accepted Attal’s resignation, but Macron says his Prime Minister will continue to carry out business-as-usual duties for “some weeks,” as Macron puts it. Is this a stall tactic? Some are saying the sore losers are delaying the inevitable and using the Olympics as an excuse…

The far-left is up in arms about this delay, even though their coalition must agree on who they want to be the next prime minister and they are nowhere near close to that.

AND NOW, Labor unions are threatening to strike during the Olympics over their worries about Macron’s decision to postpone. Sophie Binet, leader of the CGT labor union called Macron’s stall tactic risking “plunging the country into chaos.”

3. VDL’s ‘HILLBILLY ELEGY’ FACADE: Early this morning, current European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen was reelected by the European Parliament to her post for the 2024-2029 term. In a secret ballot, 401 MEPs voted in support, 284 opposed, and 22 abstained or were invalid. She won with the support from the usual leftist parties: Socialists & Democrats, Greens, Renew, and her own EPP.

But in an unusual, last-minute appeal to the right, von der Leyen brought up the idea of creating a new commissioner position over the migrant flows across the Mediterranean from North Africa and tripling border staff. POLITICO Europe reporter Carlo Martuscelli called this attempt to “crib notes from the author of ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ and VP candidate JD Vance… a “curious drift from the usual bloodless, centrist approach the Commission is known for.”

REMINDER – VDL is no champion of the right, and conservatives see right through this weak attempt to curry favor with their newly influential voting bloc. Despite her last ditch effort with the right, she later called conservatives “demagogues and extremists” in her re-election speech and later assured her leftist counterparts that she wants to raise “social fairness” and ensure the continuation of her Green Deal -— the EU’s plan to prevent climate change and cripple the economy, farmers, and food security — as its implementation is about to begin.

Notably, she also called for EU treaty revisions to increase Brussels’ power. Von der Leyen said it is necessary to change “our capacity to act, our policies and our budget.”

In the News:

• NYT: Von der Leyen Secures Second E.U. Term, but It’s a New World Out There
• Wall Street Journal: EU’s Von der Leyen Wins Second Term, Seeking Political Calm Amid Turmoil

THE LEFT HATES THE TRUTH: The EU Commission has brought charges against X (formerly Twitter) for not abiding by the EU’s social media law which categorizes facts that the ruling European left does not like as illegal disinformation and content. These are the first charges brought from the Digital Services Act which was enacted to crack down on “toxic and illegal online content and algorithms.” The penalty can be millions of euros, up to 6% of the platform’s global revenue.

The charges go after X’s change of blue check marks, claiming the change deceives users into thinking misleading or incorrect information is from a trusted source. The EU’s charges also claim that X did not provide the EU with sufficient advertising data as required in the Digital Services Act.
What They Are Saying:

• @elonmusk: The European Commission offered 𝕏 an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us. The other platforms accepted that deal. 𝕏 did not.

• @vestager: In our view @X doesn’t comply with the DSA in key transparency areas. It misleads users, fails to provide adequate ad repository and blocks access to data for researchers. It’s the first time we issue preliminary findings under the Digital Services Act. [link]
• @MikeBenzCyber: “blocks access to data to researchers”

They’re NOT researchers. They’re censorship activities & political operatives. This has been their plan the whole time — to use the DSA to force X to restaff the censorship squad fired when Elon took over.

• @ThierryBreton: Back in the day, #BlueChecks used to mean trustworthy sources of information

Now with X, our preliminary view is that:
They deceive users
They infringe #DSA

X has now the right of defence —but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines & require significant changes. [link]

• @Nigel_Farage: Elon Musk reveals the truth about the EU. What a guy.

• @RadioGenoa: We know well what the EU wants to do with our profiles, they want to silence us because we tell uncomfortable truths. What happened to our administrator Antonio a month ago is an example of this. We are all with you, never give up. Freedom of speech, always.
• @WallStreetSilv: They want to silence people who are not on the govt narrative.

ALSO IN THE NEWS:

• Automotive News Europe: EU’s von der Leyen eyes E-fuels carve-out for cars, key lawmaker says
• Politico: Commissioners should skip Hungary’s meetings, European Commission says
• European Conservative: EU Foreign Affairs Chief Backtracks on Plot To Block Hungarian Policy Meeting
• EuroNews: Paris Mayor swims in Seine river but will it really be clean enough to host Olympic events?
• New York Post: Paris mayor swims in Seine River amid major E. coli concerns before 2024 Summer Olympics
• The European Conservative: Cordon Sanitaire: Patriots Denied EU Parliament Vice Presidency.
• DW: Germany bans right-wing extremist Compact magazine

SEND US YOUR VIDEOS: Do you have videos or stories about the impact of the EU’s disastrous policies? Send us a tip at info@eu-usforum.com

CRACKING DOWN ON MUSIC: Official numbers from German police show that at least 360 investigations have been launched since October 2023 against Germans, including children, for singing a conservative twist to a popular song that now states, “foreigners out,” to express their desire for illegal aliens to be out of their country and for Germany to remain as Germany. The 360 figure only accounts for 14 of Germany’s 16 states.

The song has become popular on social media platforms, giving police a source to scour. In Germany liberals’ radical efforts to pounce on the freedom of speech, police raided a woman’s birthday party. Those singing the song, or found guilty of any other hate speech, face up to five years in prison due to Germany’s hate speech laws.

Thomas O’Reilly writes, “The overreaction to the song’s viral rise occurs in tandem with a wider state crackdown,” of the German populist movement – antithetical to the establishment socialists.

The post July 18, 2024 – EU-US Forum Tip Sheet appeared first on THE EU-US FORUM.