The text circulating on social media, purportedly from the German Defence Minister, has no connection to Boris Pistorius or his speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference.
Social media users have been actively circulating a text version of an alleged “fiery speech” by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, which he is said to have delivered at the Munich Security Conference on 14-16 February 2025. Posts quoting Pistorius’ speech claim that the German defence chief not only accused the United States of betraying the interests of Ukraine and the European Union, but also called US Vice President J.D. Vance a “coward” who was “pouring his Christian fascist bile” on the leaders of the United Kingdom and all of Europe.
The text circulating on social media under the name of the German Minister of Defence has nothing to do with Boris Pistorius’ speech at the Munich Security Conference on 14-16 February 2025. The post first appeared on 15 February 2025 in the English language section of social media on X (formerly Twitter) and Substack (a social network associated with the Substack newsletter platform). The author of the post is a user named Martin McSweeney under the handle Truth matters, who describes himself as “a political commentator and content creator dedicated to the preservation of democracy and social justice”.
In McSweeney’s original post, which was dedicated to criticising US Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech at the Munich Conference, there is no mention that these words belong to German Defence Minister Pistorius. The entire text consists solely of McSweeney’s personal reflections on global politics. The post quickly went viral, garnering over 4.2 million views, 68,000 likes and 24,000 shares on X. However, when the text was shared on the Ukrainian segment of social media, it was stripped of its original attribution and McSweeney’s words were falsely attributed to German Defence Minister Pistorius.
McSweeney’s post went viral on social media against the backdrop of a speech by US Vice President J.D. Vance, who on the first day of the 61st Munich Security Conference criticised the domestic policies of EU countries and claimed that the EU was retreating from democratic norms. However, Vance’s speech did not address Russia’s war against Ukraine, which poses a threat to the entire European continent.
In response, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius rejected Vance’s criticism, calling it unacceptable. Pistorius insisted that “democracy must be able to defend itself against extremists who seek to destroy it,” adding, “We must ensure that Russia does not emerge from this war as an even greater threat than before.
Statements by the German Defence Minister are often the subject of fake news and manipulation. Read more in StopFake’s articles Fake: German Defense Minister Refuses to Consider Ukraine an Ally and Fake: Germany ‘Prepares Second Front’ in War Against Russia.
