(NewsNation) — During the Munich Security Conference, people got the message that “America is back,” Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday.
While there was “a little angst” over some remarks made at the conference, Kemp, a Republican, said Europeans think the United States is going to continue to be a strong partner.
At the same time, Kemp said, “Everybody realizes that they have to continue to do more.”
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“I think they understand, especially militarily, that it’s time for them to step up,” Kemp said on “Morning in America.” “A lot of the countries have done a lot over the last two or three years, but some others still need to do more, and they need to have a unified voice.”
While there was “obviously a lot of concern about tariffs,” Kemp said that “people have come to the table and started solving some of the problems” President Donald Trump said would have to be fixed to avoid them.
Among those whose comments sparked fierce reactions in Munich was Vice President JD Vance, who said he fears free speech is “in retreat” across the continent.
“Too many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,” Vance said, according to the Associated Press.
Officials such as German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius criticized Vance’s speech, saying it was unacceptable that he “compared conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes.”
“It is not the Europe and not the democracy in which I live and am currently campaigning,” Pistorius said.
Kemp acknowledged some were “taken aback” by what Vance said.
“But also, when you talk to people privately, they will tell you, ‘We deserve that because we haven’t been doing as much as we need to do,'” Kemp said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
