India, Feb. 16 -- US Vice President JD Vance took a surprising dig at Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg during a speech at the Munich Security Conference that was mostly critical of Europe's censoring practices. He even dragged Tesla CEO Elon Musk in his joke.

Stressing the assembled leaders that they should pay more attention to their voters, Vance said, if the United States could "survive" the backlash from Thunberg, then Europe could withstand that of Musk.

"Trust me, I say this with all humor," he replied. "If American democracy can survive ten years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk."

His remarks were made in the midst of heated disputes about immigration, free speech, and populism be...