During a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Vice President JD Vance did not shy away from his criticism of Germany after a speech he gave in Munich that raised eyebrows.

The vice president scolded Germany and other European nations for their draconian censorship of social media, warning that they were the true danger to democracy, causing consternation from some European leaders who spoke out indignantly after his strong words.

But the vice president remained undeterred when he spoke at CPAC when he was asked if his speech could strain relationships with European nations.

“Obviously, we are going to continue to have important alliances with Europe, the vice president said.

“But I really do think the strength of those alliances is going to depend on whether we take our societies in the right direction. Think about this. Germany’s entire defense is subsidized by the American taxpayer. There are thousands upon thousands of American troops in Germany today,” he said at CPAC.

“Do you think that the American taxpayer is gonna stand for that if you get thrown in jail in Germany for posting a mean tweet? Of course, they’re not,” Vance said.

“The point I’m trying to make to our European friends — and I think they’re our friends, I believe that, and I know President Trump does. The point is that friendship is based on shared values. You do not have shared values if you’re jailing people for saying we should close down our border. You do not have shared values if you cancel elections because you don’t like the results — and that happened in Romania. You do not have shared values if you are so afraid of your own people that you silence them and shut them up,” he said.

“So let’s have shared values. Let’s defend democracy. Let’s have free expression, not just in the United States, but all over the Western world. That is the path to strong alliances in Europe,” he said.