Current Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy slammed former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a post on X, accusing the Biden-era official of ‘mismanagement.’

He leveled the criticism when responding to a post in which Buttigieg wrote, ‘The flying public needs answers. How many FAA personnel were just fired? What positions? And why?’ 

Duffy responded, blasting Buttigieg.

‘Mayor Pete failed for four years to address the air traffic controller shortage and upgrade our outdated, World War II-era air traffic control system. In less than four weeks, we have already begun the process and are engaging the smartest minds in the entire world,’ Duffy declared.

Prior to serving in the Biden administration, Buttigieg served as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

‘Here’s the truth: the FAA alone has a staggering 45,000 employees. Less than 400 were let go, and they were all probationary, meaning they had been hired less than a year ago. Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go,’ Duffy continued.

He accused Buttigieg of utilizing the Department of Transportation ‘as a slush fund for the green new scam and environmental justice nonsense,’ and claimed ‘that over 90% of the workforce under his leadership were working from home – including him. The building was empty!’

‘When we finally get a full accounting of his mismanagement, I look forward to hearing from him,’ he declared.

Buttigieg fired back, ‘At least one of the claims here (concerning telework rates) is demonstrably false, so forgive us for seeking more specifics on the rest. Is the Secretary claiming, and will he show, that none of the hundreds of FAA personnel he just fired were important to safety?’

In a post on Sunday, Duffy had indicated that individuals from SpaceX were slated to visit the Air Traffic Control System Command Center on Monday.

‘The safety of air travel is a non-partisan matter. SpaceX engineers will help make air travel safer,’ Elon Musk replied.

A federal judge President Donald Trump once described as ‘the most evil person’ is now hearing a lawsuit brought by blue states to stop the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing government data. 

First named to the bench in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of the District of Columbia Court rose to notoriety in 2021, when she presided over the criminal investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Though, her role Monday centered on whether billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE should be blocked from accessing government data or firing federal employees. 

Chutkan is a longtime legal foe of the current president – at least, if her actions from her more than 10 years on the bench are any indication.

In 2021, Chutkan rejected Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in the 2020 election interference case. The decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court, whose ruling considerably expanded the notion of immunity for U.S. presidents. 

The judge did little to remedy any strained tensions in the months that followed. Beyond boasting the harshest sentencing record for all criminal defendants that appeared before her for their roles in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots, Chutkan has been outspoken about her view of the day. After Trump moved to pardon and grant clemency to the more than 1,500 convicted, she said the president’s actions ‘cannot whitewash the blood, feces and terror that the mob left in its wake.’

‘And it cannot repair the jagged breach in America’s sacred tradition of peacefully transitioning power,’ she continued. 

Chutkan also denied Trump’s attempt to block the release of records requested by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, supplying them with some 1,800 pages of documents despite the staunch opposition from Trump’s legal counsel. Trump famously described her, in response, as the ‘most evil person.’ 

These actions and words have made her a target of Trump allies.

In 2024, Chutkan was the victim of a ‘swatting’ attack in her Washington, D.C., home, where police responded to what was later determined to be a false shooting report. 

While it seems unlikely she will side with the states to block DOGE access to federal government data, her record of opposition to Trump’s agenda is unlikely to reassure Trump and his supporters. 

During the first Trump administration, Chutkan was criticized by administration officials for many actions they saw as harmful to their policy agenda. In 2018, she temporarily halted the U.S. from blocking the abortions of illegal teenage immigrants – a ruling that was later overturned.

The following year, she ruled then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had illegally delayed implementing an Obama-era special education equity rule, which required states to identify and correct for racial disparities in special education programs across the country. She ordered the administration to begin implementing the program ‘immediately,’ despite requests from Education Department officials who said they needed more time to do so.

She has also not been shy about using her position on the bench to criticize Trump’s actions. 

Following Trump’s decision to grant a mass pardon of the 1,600 criminal dependents involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Chutkan reportedly had to reassure Capitol Police who were at the scene that the ‘rule of law still applies,’ as Politico reported last month.

However, she added at the time, ‘I’m not sure I can do that very convincingly these days.’

U.S. and Russian officials held diplomatic talks in Saudi Arabia without any Ukrainian officials present on Tuesday.

The groups, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, are seeking terms for a peace agreement in Ukraine as well as negotiating a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. They have proposed a framework that could involve a ceasefire, elections in Ukraine followed by the signing of a peace agreement.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce also confirmed that Rubio’s team agreed to ‘lay the groundwork for cooperation’ with Russia on various issues in addition to Ukraine. They also agreed to appoint ‘high-level teams’ to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine.

Reports from multiple foreign diplomatic sources say forcing Ukraine to hold new elections could be a key part of a peace deal. Both the U.S. and Russia believe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a low chance of winning re-election, the sources say.

‘Putin assesses the probability of electing a puppet president as quite high and is also convinced that any candidate other than the current President of Ukraine will be more flexible and ready for negotiations and concessions,’ the diplomatic sources said in a readout of the meeting.

Zelenskyy has said his country would never accept peace terms negotiated by the U.S. and Russia without Ukrainian involvement. Trump has vowed that Ukraine will be involved in the larger process.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff emphasized on Sunday that the ongoing meeting in Riyadh is more about ‘trust building’ than getting into the details of an actual peace agreement.

Zelenskyy urged Trump not to trust Putin in a phone call last week.

‘I said that [Putin] is a liar,’ Zelenskyy said of the call. ‘And he said, ‘I think my feeling is that he’s ready for these negotiations.’ And I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace.” 

The Ukrainian leader nevertheless said he believes Putin is a ‘little bit scared’ of Trump.

Also excluded from Tuesday’s talks are any European representatives, a notable absence given the stern rebuke of European allies delivered by Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference last week.

Some European allies are taking the cue, with U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer announcing that he is willing to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine to ensure its security as part of a peace deal.

‘I do not say that lightly,’ he wrote in the Daily Telegraph. ‘I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.’

‘But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country,’ he added.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is positioning himself as a ‘constructive force for the conservative agenda’ during President Donald Trump’s second term as one of the few Republicans willing to challenge him. 

‘Well, for me, it’s always principles first. It’s not personal,’ Pence said in an interview with the Associated Press. 

Despite publicly falling out with Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, Pence said he would support the new Trump administration on issues he agreed with, but would challenge others. 

Pence’s political advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Trump’s newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

The former vice president said he and those who work for him received ‘a lot of quiet encouragement’ in opposing Kennedy. Pence described finding it necessary to speak out on finding the ‘nomination of an abortion rights supporter to be secretary of HHS to be a dramatic departure from 50 years of strong pro-life leadership at HHS under Republican administrations.’ 

Asked why Republicans might be reluctant to oppose Trump publicly, Pence said, ‘I never speculate on motives. You know, I’m not new to town. I’ve waged lonely battles before.’

‘But you know, you have to be willing to step out and lead,’ the former vice president said. ‘My hope is that when the next issue of life comes up, that people will have been encouraged, emboldened to know that they’re not alone.’

Advancing American Freedom is now lobbying against Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s pick for labor secretary, accusing her of being pro-union. While Pence’s group plans to spend the coming months pushing to increase military spending, shrink the deficit, and make permanent the Trump 2017 tax cuts, as well as trying to convince Trump to stop implementing tariffs on allies, the former vice president and those who work for him insist they won’t take on the ‘Never Trump’ mantle. 

Pence has been delivering speeches urging Trump to stand with long-standing foreign allies and lobbying members of Congress, while his aides write letters and opinion columns. Advancing American Freedom says they intend to praise the administration when they agree with it, while raising concerns when they don’t, advocating for longtime conservative principles that they believe have taken a back seat to Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ brand of populism. 

‘We’re calling balls and strikes here,’ Pence told the AP. ‘I think that the way we want to approach this is with integrity to principle. And I’m very encouraged. I think the Trump administration is off to a great start… I’m very pleased about the president undoing Biden’s border policies and putting back into place the policies that we had negotiated and established that secured the border.’

Pence said he believes ‘some of the prominent voices in the party have embraced a more populist thinking’ but that ‘the overwhelming majority of people that ever vote Republican think any differently than they thought during our administration when we hewed to a conservative agenda or the years before or since.’ To support his opinion, the former vice president recalled an interaction he had with a farmer at a campaign stop in Iowa in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel. 

Despite the farmer saying he agreed with ‘absolutely everything’ that Pence stumped about regarding ‘strong American support for Israel, strong American leadership in the world, continued support for Ukraine in their fight and limited government and bringing about reforms to put our fiscal house in order and right to life,’ the former vice president recalled how the farmer said he could not vote for him in 2024 and that ‘I got to be for Trump this time.’ 

‘And he goes, ‘But I’ll see you in four years. You’re going to be a great president someday,” said Pence, who briefly pursued the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. ‘I said, ‘Would you mind telling me, you know, why?’ And he said words I never forgot, which was in effect: He lamented Biden’s failed record. And I saw that he was drawn to the need for a rematch. And then he said, ‘Plus, if they can do that to a former president, they can do that to me.’ And the ‘lawfare’ stuff went into higher relief.’ 

‘So I didn’t see in this last election a Republican Party that was embracing big government or a vision to pull back from America’s commitments on the world stage or marginalizing the right to life,’ Pence told the AP. ‘I didn’t see that traveling all over the country and I still don’t see it. I think there were other factors that gave the former president a decided advantage in the election. He’d earned it. He’d won it. And then he won it in the fall. But I don’t think the party’s changed.’

Pence told the AP that he went to Trump’s inauguration last month and ‘was very moved in the outpouring of kind words and expressions of appreciation from former colleagues, including many members of the new administration who I encountered in hallways.’ When he saw Trump’s new secretary of state, Marco Rubio, Pence said he gave him a hug and ‘told him how proud I was of him.’ 

‘We had praised him from here when he was selected,’ Pence told the AP. ‘I must have seen or interacted with about half the incoming Cabinet.’

At the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, Pence said he had a ‘very cordial exchange’ with Trump. When Trump was coming down the front row of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Pence recalled him saying, ‘Hi, Mike.’ Pence said he extended his hand to Trump and said, ‘Congratulations, Mr. President,’ and ‘I could see his countenance softened. And he said, ‘Thanks.’’ Pence said he also congratulated first lady Melania Trump. 

‘You know, the people that know me know it’s not personal,’ Pence told the AP. ‘I’ve long since forgiven the president for any differences that we had at the end of our administration. We still have those differences as the president still holds the view that, to my knowledge, that I had some authority that I did not have under the Constitution or laws of the country. But from my heart, I’ve prayed often for the president.’

The AP also asked Pence about the viral moment at the funeral in which his wife, former second lady Karen Pence, refused to acknowledge President-elect Trump or shake Melania Trump’s hand.

‘My wife loves her husband. And I love my wife and I have great respect for her. And so – but I’ve been really moved at how many people around the country have thanked us both for that day,’ Pence said. ‘But again, you know, I want to emphasize, we’re eyes forward here. You know, I’d always thought the president was going to come around on the position he took on Jan. 6.’ 

In his book, Pence said, he describes how he and Trump ‘actually parted on very amicable terms, very good terms,’ but in the spring, when Trump ‘returned to the rhetoric about how I could have done something that neither the Constitution nor the law would ever permit any vice president to do, then I just decided it was important to go our separate ways.’ 

‘But hope springs eternal,’ Pence said. ‘And we want to be a constructive force for the conservative agenda. I think that’s good for the administration. It’s good for the Congress. More importantly, it’s good for America.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

State-level lawmakers are introducing a wave of bills aimed at advancing priorities championed by new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ platform, in some cases citing the new administration’s support for these causes as the catalyst for their efforts. 

Arizona, Kansas and Utah are examples of states doing this. The move is aimed at prohibiting junk food like candy and soda from school lunches and other federally funded food assistance programs, something Kennedy has expressed support for in the past. Others have included efforts to rid these programs of ultra-processed foods, certain additives and dyes.

‘It took Bobby to get into the position that he is in now for something to happen,’ Arizona state Rep. Leo Biasiucci said during a press conference this month during which he introduced HB 2164. The bill seeks to ban several food dyes and other additives from school lunch programs in the state. ‘I can’t thank him enough for being the microphone … at the high level, to finally put a spotlight on this.’

Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Idaho, similarly touted the new administration as a reason why he thought his new bill to remove candy and soda from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, would be successful. The bill, HB 109, would require the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to seek a federal waiver to remove these items from SNAP. When asked by a fellow state lawmaker why he thought such a waiver to get rid of these foods would be successful, Redman cited a Trump administration that would be friendly to him.

‘I think that the chances are higher now with the new administration,’ Redman said. 

Wyoming, Kansas, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming have introduced similar bills aimed at reforming SNAP and school lunches.

In addition to dietary-related legislation, several states have also taken steps to amend their vaccine rules. During Kennedy’s confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill, he was routinely grilled about his past skepticism towards vaccines. The new HHS secretary iterated to lawmakers at the time that he was not anti-vaccine, but rather ‘pro-safety.’

Roughly a dozen states, including Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Texas have introduced a variety of changes.

Some of the new bills targeting state vaccine rules include protections for immunization exemptions, efforts to bolster vaccine transparency, revised requirements related to the administration of vaccines and efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers accountable for harmful side effects. Others prohibit any future COVID-19 vaccine mandates related to education, work or travel, with some providing an exception if state legislatures are able to pass a new bill requiring vaccinations for certain public health emergencies. 

Meanwhile, bills expelling fluoride from public water systems are also being introduced at the state level, another change Kennedy has promoted in the past. 

While states like Arkansas, Hawaii, New Hampshire, North Dakota and others have taken steps to introduce legislation preventing fluoride from being added to public water systems, other states, like Kentucky and Nebraska, are considering bills that would make fluoride optional.

At the federal level, the Senate’s Make America Healthy Again Caucus, which was formed to back the policies of Kennedy’s agenda, is reportedly readying a ‘package of bills’ aimed at improving nutrition and the nation’s agriculture sector, according to Politico.

‘The MAHA Caucus is ready to get to work with Robert F. Kennedy Jr,’ the group’s official X account stated on Friday after Kennedy’s confirmation by the Senate.

The acting head of the Social Security Administration (SSA) quit her job over the weekend after butting heads with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), over efforts to access certain sensitive government records, according to reports.

The Washington Post reported that three people familiar with Michelle King’s departure said on Monday that she stepped down from her position after the disagreement.

In response to King’s departure, President Donald Trump reportedly appointed Leland Dudek to lead the agency as the president’s nominee to serve as commissioner of the SSA, Frank Bisignano, is vetted by federal lawmakers.

Principal Deputy Press Secretary at the White House, Harrison Fields, said they expect Bisignano to be ‘swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks.’

‘In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner,’ Fields said without naming the replacement. ‘President Trump is committed to appointing the best and most qualified individuals who are dedicated to working on behalf of the American people, not to appease the bureaucracy that has failed them for far too long.’

The three individuals who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, reportedly told the publication that Dudek posted positive remarks about DOGE’s efforts to seek out fraud and cut costs across federal agencies.

The SSA did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.

Musk is leading DOGE to aggressively slash government waste when it comes to federal spending under President Trump. The department was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission.

One of the department’s most recent targets is the SSA, which was created by the Social Security Act under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 and tasked with establishing a federal benefits system for older Americans.

As DOGE continues to find fraud and wasteful spending at SSA, Musk turned to X on Monday to say millions of people listed in a Social Security database are recorded as centenarians ‘with the death field set to FALSE!’

‘According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,’ Musk posted, adding a couple of rolling on the floor laughing emojis.

His post features a chart indicating there are more than 20 million listed with ages 100 and higher, including more than 3.9 million in the 130-139 age range, more than 3.5 million in the 140-149 range and more than 1.3 million in the 150-159 range.

While the U.S. population count in the 2020 census was more than 331 million, the count of people ages 100 and older was more than 80,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) discovered an identification code linking U.S. Treasury payments to a budget line item, which accounts for nearly $4.7 trillion in payments which was oftentimes left blank.

‘The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process),’ DOGE wrote in a post on X. ‘In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.’

The agency thanked the U.S. Treasury for their work in identifying the optional field.

According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which is under the Treasury, TAS codes are used to describe any one of the account identification codes assigned by the Treasury and is also referred to as the ‘account.’

All financial transactions made by the federal government are classified by TAS when reporting to the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The discovery was announced on the same day DOGE appeared to have populated the DOGE.gov Savings page, which, as of Monday evening, said the total estimated savings since the establishment of the department total about $55 billion.

The savings are a combination of ‘fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.’

‘We are working to upload all of this data in a digestible and fully transparent manner with clear assumptions, consistent with applicable rules and regulations,’ DOGE wrote on the site, adding that the data will be updated twice per week until eventually becoming real-time.

Musk is leading DOGE to aggressively slash government waste when it comes to federal spending under President Donald Trump.

The department was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission.

The group has faced criticism over its access to federal systems, including the Treasury Department’s payment system, as well as moves to cancel federal contracts and make cuts at various agencies.

Attorneys general from 14 states are suing to block DOGE from accessing federal data, arguing Musk and Trump’s administration have engaged in illegal executive overreach.

The newly formed cost-cutting agency scored a win on Friday when a federal judge in Washington declined a request to temporarily block it from accessing sensitive data from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Fox News Digital’s Hillary Vaugh and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

A federal judge expressed skepticism of efforts seeking to bar President Donald Trump’s administration from accessing federal data and firing federal workers when hearing remarks from the bench on Monday. 

Judge Tanya Chutkan has yet to issue a ruling in the case, which relates to billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and their efforts to curb government spending. Chutkan says she will rule on the case within 24 hours.

At issue in the case are DOGE’s actions within seven federal agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Education, Department of Labor, The Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation and the Department of Commerce.

Attorneys general from 14 states argue Musk and Trump’s administration have engaged in illegal executive overreach, but Chutkan says she wasn’t convinced so far.

‘There is no greater threat to democracy than the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single, unelected individual,’ the lawsuit brought against DOGE states.

Chutkan says lawyers for the states have yet to establish that there is imminent harm that could be avoided by restraining DOGE.

‘The things that I’m hearing are serious and troubling indeed… But you’re saying these are things that we’re hearing,’ she said. ‘I’m not seeing it so far.’

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez filed the lawsuit, joined by officials from Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Nevada, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.

The group of states is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent more federal firings at the recommendation of Musk and DOGE.

Chutkan was not exclusively hostile to the states’ argument, however, as she was also seen critiquing representatives for Trump’s administration.

‘Nowhere have my friends offered a shred of anything, nor could they, to show that Elon Musk has any formal or actual authority to make any government decisions himself,’ DOJ lawyer Harry Graver said.

Chutkan countered, ‘I think you stretch too far. I disagree with you there.’

The outgoing chairman of the Munich Security Conference delivered an emotional farewell speech that ended in tears, after he expressed ‘fear’ over Vice President JD Vance’s blistering speech to the annual conference on international security policy.

‘This conference started as a trans-Atlantic conference,’ German diplomat and chair of the conference Christoph Heusgen said Sunday. ‘After the speech of Vice President Vance on Friday, we have to fear that our common value base is not that common anymore. I’m very grateful to all those European politicians that spoke out and reaffirmed the values and principles that they are defending. No one did this better than President Zelenskyy, who has been fighting for these values – democracy, freedom, rule of law for the past three years.’ 

Heusgen’s speech marked the close to his leadership of the Munich Security Conference, as former Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg takes the reins of the international security forum. Heusgen had served as leader of the forum since 2022. 

Social media critics began posting snippets of Heusgen’s speech to X Sunday, claiming the German diplomat and longtime advisor to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel broke down in tears over his frustrations with Vance’s blistering speech to the international body. The conference clarified on X that the diplomat reportedly broke down due to his speech being his last as chairman of the forum. 

‘Our former Chair Christoph Heusgen did not shed a few tears out of ‘frustration.’ It was his farewell speech as he was leaving the MSC after this year’s conference. He was saying goodbye to the team at this very moment. The video snippet here is edited together,’ the conference posted to X Monday morning. 

The full video of Heusgen’s speech shows him breaking down into tears after warning that ‘our rules-based international order is under pressure.’ 

‘It is clear that our rules-based international order is under pressure,’ he said. ‘It is my strong belief… that this multipolar world needs to be based on a single set of norms and principles, on the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This order is easy to disrupt, it’s easy to destroy, but it’s much harder to rebuild, so let us stick to these values. Let us not reinvent them, but focus on strengthening their consistent application.’ 

President Donald Trump has frequently taken shots at the United Nations since his first administration, and said earlier in February that the U.N. was ‘not being well run’ and needs to get its ‘act together.’ 

‘Let me conclude. And this becomes difficult,’ Heusgen said, choking up, before leaving the podium on the stage and hugging various members of the audience. 

A spokesperson for the conference reiterated to Fox News Digital Monday that Heusgen teared up solely due to the fact that he was ending his three-year term leading the forum and that ‘many long-time participants and friends were in the Conference Hall to say goodbye’ to the diplomat. 

‘I was truly touched by the warm farewell I received from the entire MSC team and so many friends after my last MSC as chairman,’ Heusgen added in comment to Fox News Digital. ‘It was a very emotional moment on stage at the end of my term. A video is circulating on the internet that takes this scene of my departure out of context. Unfortunately, this once again shows how the mechanisms of disinformation work.’

His speech to the assembly followed Vance’s on Friday, where the U.S. vice president lambasted ‘Soviet’-style European censorship, joked about left-wing environmentalist Greta Thunberg, and slammed ongoing immigration woes that have throttled European nations and the U.S. under the Biden administration. 

‘Trust me, I say this with all humor,’ Vance said at one point of his speech. ‘If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.’ 

Vance also took issue with current immigration practices across the world, calling them ‘out-of-control migration’ policies that include allowing unvetted migrants into foreign nations. Vance’s comments followed a suspect identified as an Afghan migrant ramming a car into pedestrians at a trade union demonstration in Munich Thursday, killing a mother and child and injuring at least 37 others. 

‘But why did this happen in the first place?’ Vance said in his speech of the Munich car attack. ‘It’s a terrible story, but it’s one we’ve heard way too many times in Europe, and unfortunately, too many times in the United States, as well. An asylum seeker, often a young man in his mid-20s, already known to police, rams a car into a crowd and shatters a community. How many times must we suffer these appalling setbacks before we change course and take our shared civilization in a new direction?’ 

Other world leaders seemingly took issue with Vance’s speech during the forum, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying the day after Vance’s speech that Germany rejects ‘outsiders intervening in our democracy.’

Stateside, conservatives have celebrated Vance’s speech as ‘almost Reaganesque,’ ‘pro-American’ and pro-free speech on social media and during Fox News interviews.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Munich Security Conference on Monday for additional comment regarding Heusgen’s speech and did not immediately receive a reply.