Germany’s strict speech laws go too far, Maher agrees

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During a recent appearance, Bill Maher shared his perspective on JD Vance’s controversial Munich speech, offering a nuanced view of the Republican senator’s remarks. The political commentator acknowledged the concerning nature of portions of Vance’s speech, particularly regarding Germany’s recent election and its inclusion of a Nazi-sympathetic party.

However, Maher expressed agreement with Vance’s stance on free speech issues, drawing attention to a recent ’60 Minutes’ segment about Germany’s approach to speech regulation. He highlighted the extreme measures taken by German authorities in their attempt to distance themselves from their historical Nazi past.

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that he believed Vice President JD Vance was correct in his criticisms of European speech laws during a recent speech. Maher said, “JD Vance…the other week, made a speech, in Munich. A lot of people were shocked…

— Paul Furlong (@MDMPaul) March 1, 2025

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“But the first part of the speech was about free speech, that I didn’t think he was so wrong about. Especially since I had just seen the ’60 Minutes’ report…about how they handle free speech in Germany. Wow. This is not the only country where the pendulum doesn’t land in the middle. Apparently, Germany is so afraid to look like their Nazi past that they’re literally knocking on people’s doors and taking their phones and their computers if you just insult people online. They brought up this example of ‘pimmel’, it means ‘cock’ in German. You can’t call people a dick? I’d be in jail ten times a week.”

The discussion expanded when Fareed Zakaria, a Washington Post columnist and CNN host, joined the conversation. While Zakaria concurred with Vance’s free speech concerns, he criticized the senator’s presentation of the issue as Europe’s primary threat, overlooking challenges posed by Russia and China. Maher acknowledged this critique, specifically pointing out the lack of free speech in Russia.

Censorship laws in Europe restrict free speech to the point it startles Bill Maher:
Maher: "How they handle free speech in Germany: Wow this is not the only country where the pendulum doesn't land in the middle. Germany is so afraid to look like their Nazi past, that they're… pic.twitter.com/vx4Ysc0vqm

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) March 1, 2025