U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday wrote on social media: “Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.”
Austrian member of the European Parliament Helmut Brandstatter, a former journalist (who is married to journalist Patricia Pawlicki), replied: “A Message to ‘piggy Land’: there is No censorship in Europe, and everybody has to follow our rules” Trump fights the free press, suing newspapers and TV stations. So leave us alone.”
A Message to „piggy Land“: there is No censorship in Europe, and everybody has to follow our rules” Trump fights the free press, suing newspapers and TV stations. So leave us alone https://t.co/jEEotv8a23
— Helmut Brandstätter MdEP (@HBrandstaetter) December 5, 2025
Note: ‘Piggy Land’ is a reference to President Donald Trump recently calling a female reporter ‘piggy’ on Air Force One.
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah B. Rogers, who replied to Brandstatter with the video below, wrote on X: “I’m traveling in Europe on a diplomatic passport, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to say a few things ordinary Europeans (and Brits) can’t.”
In the video, Rogers repeated some of the remarks, including an anti-gay slur, which have caused some Europeans “to be investigated, arrested or jailed by their government.”
I’m traveling in Europe on a diplomatic passport, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to say a few things ordinary Europeans (and Brits) can’t. https://t.co/CazvGQ31at pic.twitter.com/drgkXQ6S9P
— Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers (@UnderSecPD) December 6, 2025
Note: Prior to joining the Trump administration in October, Rogers “spearheaded and supported challenges to social media censorship and the weaponization of law enforcement, including in connection with the successful appeal of the wrongful conviction of Douglass Mackey and the online censorship of Charlie Kirk.”