2 months ago
2
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed the state of transatlantic relations, criticizing the unpredictability of the US administration under President Donald Trump and likening key figures to oligarchs.
👥 Who’s Involved: Ursula von der Leyen, Donald Trump, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, US Vice-President JD Vance.
Your free, daily feed from The National Pulse.
📍 Where & When: Comments were published in German newspaper Die Zeit, ongoing developments with trade talks involving the EU and US.
💬 Key Quote: “We don’t have bros or oligarchs making the rules.”
⚠️ Impact: The statement reflects tensions in US-EU relations, with discussions ongoing about tariffs and trade agreements. Trump has recently been noted for easing tariffs on European imports.
IN FULL:
In a candid evaluation of European and American relations, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, voiced concerns about the current dynamics, noting that traditional alliances are shifting. In an interview with Die Zeit, she criticized the US administration’s approach and compared influential figures to Russian oligarchs. This marks a significant moment in transatlantic discussions as von der Leyen emphasized Europe’s commitment to global trade principles, contrasting it with tactics she attributes to Washington.
Her comments come at a time when trade agreements between the US and EU are a point of contention. Trump recently retracted tariffs impacting European imports valued at £328 billion, a move following financial market instability. Nonetheless, Vice-President JD Vance has been critical of the EU, labeling it as undemocratic and suppressive towards right-wing populism.
“We don’t have bros or oligarchs making the rules,” von der Leyen said, adding, “[t]he West as we knew it no longer exists.”
Despite these challenges, von der Leyen claims Europe as a model of stability and predictability, stressing the region’s position in global economics. She highlighted that only a small portion of Europe’s trade is with the US, causing concern that as with prior decades, the European Union is inclined to move further towards the Chinese Communist Party and its brutal regime.
“In Europe, children can go to good schools however wealthy their parents are. We have lower CO2 emissions and higher life expectancy,’ she said, adding that “controversial debates are allowed at our universities,” in a clear dig at Trump’s policy of removing anti-American and anti-Israel students from college campuses.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Wikipedia editors extensively revised Vice President J.D. Vance’s page during the 2024 presidential campaign and its aftermath, significantly increasing negative content.
👥 Who’s Involved: Vice President J.D. Vance, Wikipedia editors, President Donald J. Trump, MRC Free Speech America, and various media outlets.
Your free, daily feed from The National Pulse.
📍 Where & When: United States, particularly Ohio; focus periods include Vance’s campaign announcements in 2021 and 2024.
💬 Key Quote: “Wikipedia editors flooded Vance’s page with 883 edits during the GOP vice presidential sweepstakes in the lead-up to Vance’s debut at the Republican National Convention—far more activity than the mere 500 edits made in a five-year span from March 2017 through May 2022,” the MRC report notes.
⚠️ Impact: During critical political phases, Vance’s public image was reshaped with heightened negativity.
IN FULL:
A recent examination of edits made to the Wikipedia page for Vice President J.D. Vance reveals that the online, open-source encyclopedia’s editors made substantial edits amplifying negative content during and after his selection as President Donald J. Trump‘s running mate. The research, published by MRC Free Speech America, found that in the months leading up to Vance being tapped as Trump’s vice presidential nominee at the 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC), his Wikipedia page saw nearly double the number of edits made compared to the cumulative total over the five years prior.
“Wikipedia editors flooded Vance’s page with 883 edits during the GOP vice presidential sweepstakes in the lead-up to Vance’s debut at the Republican National Convention—far more activity than the mere 500 edits made in a five-year span from March 2017 through May 2022—signaling a clear attempt to negatively reshape his public image,” MRC states, noting: “This mass editing began soon after legacy media floated Vance as a possible Trump running mate.”
The edits made to Vance’s entry on the free online encyclopedia almost uniformly use partisan-style talking points to highlight allegedly negative aspects of the Vice President’s background. Instead of a viewpoint-neutral source of information on Vance, his Wikipedia page essentially became a dumping point for Democratic Party talking points and opposition research. This effectively allowed the corporate media to use Wikipedia’s perceived ‘legitimacy’ as a fig leaf to cover their laundering of a partisan Democrat narrative.
Despite Vance having on multiple occasions stated his opinion of President Trump had changed significantly after 2016, Wikipedia editors altered the Vice President’s page to amplify his nearly decade-old criticisms of the America First leader while downplaying his subsequent support for Trump’s policies and leadership. The edits, mostly occurring before Vance was formally announced as the vice presidential nominee, appear to have been intended to undermine his chances of being named as Trump’s running mate.
Additionally, the editors are accused of presenting Vance’s nonprofit work regarding the opioid crisis in a negative light, suggesting ties to Big Pharma. This was further compounded by contentious portrayals of his acclaimed book Hillbilly Elegy, which Wikipedia did not emphasize prior to his entry into national politics.
The findings published by MRC mirror a pattern found with other Trump administration officials. Previously, the media watchdog group found that Wikipedia editors made similar partisan interventions with the page entries for Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Kash Patel. The National Pulse previously reported that Wikipedia’s cofounder, Larry Sanger, warned that the massive open-source online encyclopedia is likely ideologically corrupted due to the efforts of its former chief executive, Katherine Maher. Maher led the Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees the online resource, before she was hired as the CEO of NPR.
show less
English (US) ·