UK’s Ban on Leftists Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker Proves JD Vance Was Right About Europe’s Free Speech Problem
The excerpt argues that when J.D.Vance criticized Europe for restricting free speech, he was right-and that subsequent events in the UK have “vindicated” his warning. It claims UK authorities revoked Cenk uygur’s and Hasan Piker’s entry authorization, framing this as an example of European-style censorship. The piece describes both figures as closely tied by family and argues thay are also anti-Israel/antisemitic in stance, suggesting the UK ban would have prevented them from spreading their views publicly.
It also recounts how mainstream American media and left-wing commentators attacked vance after his remarks at the Munich Security conference, then concludes that Britain’s actions ironically make Vance’s critics look sympathetic while reinforcing the article’s broader point: Europe does not treat free speech protections as a core societal value.
Vice President J.D. Vance took a ton of heat last year when he warned that Europe had a free speech problem.
Liberals on both sides of the pond were outraged at him for saying it, and two reprehensible American leftists just learned that he was right.
Ironically, when Vance correctly ripped the Europeans, CBS talking head Margaret Brennan saw so much red she blamed the Holocaust on freedom of speech:
FLASHBACK: Here’s Margaret Brennan melting down over VP Vance’s Munich speech last year and getting COOKED by SECSTATE Rubio for blaming the Holocaust on “weaponized” free speech. pic.twitter.com/i2R5Oyq8Cn
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 15, 2026
In a bizarre, full-circle moment, left-wing anti-Semites Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker have been barred from entering the United Kingdom after the government there revoked their travel authorizations, the BBC reported Monday.
The two are related by family — Piker is Uygur’s nephew — but kinship isn’t all they have in common.
Piker, who was born in the United States and raised in Turkey, has spent years attacking the U.S., defending Hamas, and dehumanizing Jews.
Uygur, a Turkish-born naturalized American citizen, has also built a career on anti-Israel extremism and appears fully convinced that Jews are responsible for all of his problems.
Britain still should have let both of them in.
Piker and Uygur probably would have spent the entire trip reminding everyone how dumb they both are, but the British people will now be denied the opportunity to see it live.
They both expressed their outrage on X:
I’ve been banned from the UK. I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) May 31, 2026
the uk has revoked my visa as well. all at the behest of israel. the west is betraying “liberal values” for a genocidal fascist foreign government. soon we will all become israel. https://t.co/UqQG1dogOI
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) May 31, 2026
In reality, Britain’s archaic censorship likely gave these morons more attention than they otherwise would have received while traversing the U.K. and peddling conspiracy theories.
The British people should have had the opportunity to hear both of them.
But because Europeans, broadly speaking, do not view free speech rights as a crucial block of a healthy society, Piker and Uygur now get to portray themselves as victims of the same oppressive policies Vance warned about while in Germany last year.
Vance stood at the Munich Security Conference shortly after taking office and dragged European governments for denying their people basic freedoms and defying fundamental Western values.
JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference 2025 is the most powerful defense of free speech you’ll hear this year.
Speaking directly to Europe’s leaders, the U.S. Vice President warned that silencing citizens — whether through UK “buffer zones” that criminalize silent… pic.twitter.com/pTgTSbJZXo
— Camus (@newstart_2024) December 5, 2025
He was relentlessly attacked by the American media and the left for it.
Just over a year later, the vice president has been completely vindicated.
The truly remarkable thing here is that Britain — in proving Vance right — somehow managed to make Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur look sympathetic.
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