This is a lazy stereotype. European nations generally spend more on welfare, but the social justice stuff, which is now a defining part of the current "left", seems to be overwhelmingly produced in and exported from the U.S. and plenty of locals resent it as an inorganic cultural import. The entire obsession with "whiteness" looks extra weird on a continent where the population has been mostly white since the Stone Age, but yes, some of our less than stellar intellectuals still try to transpose (and impose it) here.

Also, compared to the U.S., Europe is decidedly more tribal. There is a sense of national identity forged by foreign occupations and attacks, especially among the smaller or weaker nations, that produces a lot of entrenched, insecure nationalism. Americans, being the top dogs of the world's pack for generations, generally do not understand how nationalism can arise from conditions of humiliation and victimhood, or only limit this understanding to their own black population, thus misunderstanding the European political currents a lot.

If a quarter of your population was forcibly deported to Siberia (which happened in the Baltics recently enough that witnesses are still alive), you will be a lot more jaded and distrustful than if you have no concept of such threats.