Rantz: How can Margaret Brennan blame free speech for the Holocaust?
Feb 17, 2025, 8:37 AM | Updated: 11:56 am

Margaret Brennan, Face the Nation. (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Margaret Brennan, host of Face the Nation, has a habit of regurgitating leftist talking points like a parrot with a teleprompter and notes. But even by her low standards, her latest nonsense was a spectacle of historic ignorance. She blamed free speech for the Holocaust.
During a segment with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Brennan actually claimed that 鈥渇ree speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide鈥 in Nazi Germany. Brennan鈥檚 bizarre exchange came in response to Vice President JD Vance鈥檚 speech at the Munich Security Conference, where he pointed out an uncomfortable truth: Europe, and especially Germany, is veering down a path of censorship.
Vance warned that the biggest threat to the West isn鈥檛 Russia or China鈥攊t鈥檚 the erosion of free speech, the very foundation of democracy. Germany, with its aggressive criminalization of political speech, is leading the charge in proving him right.
Let鈥檚 be clear鈥擝rennan’s claim is not merely stupid. It鈥檚 dangerously stupid.
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Margaret Brennan doesn’t know what caused the Holocaust
Margaret Brennan, ever the loyal defender of authoritarian overreach, tried to reframe Vice President JD Vance鈥檚 warning as some kind of tacit endorsement of fascism.
She fretted that Vance made his remarks while meeting with the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-wing party under scrutiny for 鈥渆xtremism.鈥 Rather than engaging in an actual debate, Brennan predictably resorted to guilt by association鈥攁 classic media trick to discredit conservatives without addressing their actual arguments.
Then came her history-shattering :聽鈥淲ell, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide.鈥澛燫ubio immediately shot back with a reality check. 鈥淔ree speech was not used to conduct a genocide. The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime,鈥 he noted.
We already know that Brennan aims to be the most anti-conservative journalist on TV. She’s spent weeks conducting extraordinarily bad faith interviews with Republicans. But is she also 迟谤测颈苍驳听to be the most ignorant person on TV?
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Germany was never a bastion of free speech
Anyone with even a passing knowledge of history knows that Nazi Germany wasn鈥檛 a bastion of free speech. And no, free speech wasn’t “weaponized” to conduct the Holocaust.
Hitler didn鈥檛 rise to power because of too much free speech鈥攈e rose precisely because there was none. The Nazis systematically crushed dissent, banned opposition parties, arrested political enemies, and controlled the media through state propaganda. The very first thing they did after seizing power was eliminate the free press and criminalize speech they deemed 鈥渄angerous鈥 to the regime.
And speaking of Germany鈥檚 censorship obsession, CBS鈥 60 Minutes just gave us a chilling glimpse into where this is all headed. It has banned “offensive” speech.
The segment showcased German police storming homes, seizing phones, and arresting people for posting 鈥渙ffensive鈥 content online. In one case, someone was fined thousands of euros for making a crude joke about asylum seekers. Another was raided over a single political tweet. Authorities defended this dystopian nightmare by saying free speech has 鈥渓imits鈥 and that reposting something illegal is now a crime too.
It鈥檚 almost like Margaret Brennan is actively trying to be the most ignorant, biased, and historically illiterate journalist on TV.
鈥 Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz)
Fighting for fascists while pretending to fight them
If Margaret Brennan鈥檚 logic were applied today, Germany鈥檚 latest censorship laws鈥攍ike arresting people for memes or raiding homes over political posts鈥攕hould be considered 鈥渨eaponizing free speech鈥 as well. But of course, she鈥檇 never admit that. Because in her mind, censorship is only bad when it prevents leftists from silencing their opponents.
This is what Brennan and her ilk support. This is the 鈥減rogress鈥 they want America to adopt. A system where criticizing politicians gets you fined, where reposting the wrong article lands you in jail, and where nebulous definitions of 鈥渉ate speech鈥 allow the government to criminalize opinions they don鈥檛 like. Germany has gone from fighting fascism to emulating its worst instincts鈥攁nd Brennan is cheering them on because she apparently thinks free speech caused the Holocaust.
Vance was right to sound the alarm on censorship, and Rubio was right to call out Brennan鈥檚 historical illiteracy. The real threat isn鈥檛 too much free speech鈥攊t鈥檚 too little. And if the media weren鈥檛 filled with left-wing hacks like Brennan, that might actually be the story.
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