Margaret Brennan’s Meltdown: Did She Just Blame Free Speech for the Holocaust?

It’s official: CBS News’ Margaret Brennan has lost the plot. Not that she ever really had a firm grasp on it to begin with, but this latest meltdown over Vice President JD Vance’s completely reasonable comments on free speech in Europe is truly one for the ages.

During an interview with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Face the Nation, Brennan attempted what can only be described as a high-stakes gymnastics routine—one that resulted in her faceplanting into historical illiteracy.

Brennan was deeply distressed (as per usual) that Vance had the audacity to visit Germany and speak on the dangers of censorship. And in her mind, this was somehow… linked to the Holocaust?

“Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct genocide,” Brennan declared, clearly believing she had just delivered some hard facts. But unfortunately for her, Rubio, like the rest of us with a functioning knowledge of history, wasn’t having it.

“I have to disagree with you,” Rubio replied, patiently explaining that actually, the Holocaust was carried out by an authoritarian Nazi regime—not by “free speech.” (Hard to believe that had to be clarified on national television, but here we are.)

Brennan’s ridiculous framing of history suggests that she genuinely believes that the horrors of Nazism started when they got together and said, “Hey, let’s have a healthy debate!” rather than, you know, systematically silencing all dissenting voices, controlling the media, and jailing political opponents—which, funnily enough, is a tactic much more in line with the censorship policies Vance was warning against.

Of course, the real issue here isn’t free speech. It’s Trump-Vance Derangement Syndrome. Brennan and her mainstream media friends are physically incapable of hearing JD Vance say anything—no matter how rational—without shrieking in horror and trying to tie it back to the Trump being a violent dictator. (In fact, it’s impressive that Brennan didn’t throw “January 6th” into the mix. Must’ve been an oversight.)

Vance, for his part, handled this hysteria exactly as he should: by shrugging it off and delivering a perfect response on X.

“This is a crazy exchange,” he posted. “Does the media really think the Holocaust was caused by free speech?”

To which we say: Yes, JD, yes they do.

That was mic-drop enough, but this ridiculous exchange could also be ended in the most JD Vance way possible: “I really don’t care, Margaret.” Because, truly, watching the media work themselves into a frenzy over basic facts is getting exhausting.

Here’s the reality: Germany’s history is one of censorship, not free speech, leading to some of the darkest moments in human history. Vance pointing out that censorship remains a problem today—especially when it comes to conservative viewpoints—isn’t controversial. It’s common sense.

The real question is: when will Margaret Brennan and her media pals finally accept reality? (Trick question. They never will.)