Pete Hegseth's D-day speech on immigration condemned as 'grotesque stupidity'

[dalton99a]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/07/pete-hegseth-d-day-speech-immigration-grotesque-stupidity

Pete Hegseth’s D-day speech on immigration condemned as ‘grotesque stupidity’
Historians and campaigners accuse US defence secretary of desecrating memory of soldiers who fell in Normandy
Ashifa Kassam
Sun 7 Jun 2026 08.22 EDT

...

The remarks were swiftly condemned on social media. The English historian, author and television presenter Simon Schama described them as a “special kind of loathsomeness: a blend of historical deafness, grotesque stupidity and comically ludicrous self-importance”.

Anders Åslund, a Swedish economist and former senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, contrasted the comments with Hegseth’s later remarks on the US standing alongside its allies. “So much nonsense,” he wrote on social media. “‘We stand by our allies!’ No you don’t. You just attacked them. Immigration policies are internal matters.”

In the days before Hegseth’s visit to France, the plans had stirred up controversy, with one residents’ association calling for the trip to be cancelled. “This individual promotes values that go against democracy, human rights and peace,” the Langrune en Commun association, which advocates for environmentalism and solidarity among the village’s residents, said in a press release last week.

Speaking to the broadcaster BFMTV, one member of the association cautioned against acting as though everything was normal. “What’s happening with the Trump administration isn’t business as usual. The fact that Pete Hegseth is challenging all the international organisations that emerged from the second world war isn’t business as usual,” said Chantal Richard.

“The words must be spoken, he must be called out for who he is, for the values he represents: colonial, warmongering, racist, far-right values,” she added. “Silence seems to us to be the worst thing we can do on these issues.”

...

[littlemissmartypants]

1. When Simon Schama speaks, I listen.

Hogsbreath, not so much.

Thanks for the discussion, dalton99a.

❤️

[Ponietz]

4. Schama continued:

Schama added: “As if the little people’s rage against immigration somehow is superior to the war against the 3rd Reich and entitles this comic book nobody to lecture the actual heroes.”

[paleotn]

5. That is so good!

To the point, precisely on target.

[dalton99a]

6. +1

[NBachers]

2. I salute the international community for their condemnation. But it'll probably make Kegsbreath puff his chest out more.

[EdmondDantes_]

13. His audience of one probably loved it

Or would have if he didn't fall asleep in the middle of the speech.

[Grins]

3. Now that's a kick in the nads!!! What a sentence!!

“…loathsomeness…historical deafness, grotesque stupidity and comically ludicrous self-importance”.

And all of it accurate.

NB: It also describes you-know-who….

[Paul-EM]

7. ignominy

Sadly, for a long time to come, decent Americans will have to bear the embarrassment, shame, humiliation, and disgrace of the hateful, vicious, anti-democracy movement currently dominating the country. I'm trying to be optimistic that this, too, will pass.

[ChicagoTeamster]

8. Good. I hope he's lambasted all over the global press for this. Rubio and Vance are pushing the same message when they

travel too. They're trying to destroy the unity of EU NATO nations to make it weaker. This is all in accordance with Putin's plans.

[70sEraVet]

9. The headline should have been:

"Hegseth reveals that he was actually rooting for the Nazis!"

[dalton99a]

10. +1

[mountain grammy]

11. America has had fox news for how long now? 30 years?

We know this “special kind of loathsomeness: a blend of historical deafness, grotesque stupidity and comically ludicrous self-importance” all too well here in the USA and now murdoch is running America.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. Hegseth hammered for his 'disrespectful' D-Day speech in Normandy: 'Shameless'

Hegseth insulted our allies and former friends

Hegseth hammered for his 'disrespectful' D-Day speech in Normandy: 'Shameless'

www.rawstory.com/pete-hegseth...

A white nationalist, weekend news host speaks over the graves of our fallen heroes. They were ANTIFA.

— Melody Hamby Goss (@melodygoss111.bsky.social) 2026-06-07T12:19:27.800Z

https://www.rawstory.com/pete-hegseth-2677008410/

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used the 82nd anniversary of D-Day to compare migrants crossing the Mediterranean to the Nazi invasion of Europe — and the backlash was immediate and bipartisan.

Speaking at the Normandy ceremony, Hegseth departed from solemn remembrance to deliver an anti-immigration political statement. "Sadly, today different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies," he said. "In Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late?"

Greg Bagwell, a retired British Air Marshal and former senior RAF commander, was among the first to respond. "The commemoration of the bravery, tragedy and importance of D-Day is not ever the place to try and score cheap political points. What an ignorant and disrespectful dumba--."

Tom Nichols, a national security expert and staff writer at The Atlantic, noted a glaring historical problem with Hegseth's framing — one that multiple people picked up on. "Making an analogy where the West is the defender of the beaches — you know, where the Nazis were — is not the smartest speechifying," Nichols wrote, "even for the man some inside the Pentagon refer to as 'Dumb McNamara.'" His post was reposted by former Republican congresswoman Barbara Comstock.

Reed Galen, a Republican strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, was less clinical about it. "If you've been to the American Military Cemetery in Normandy, and you've looked out over those rows of crosses and stars of David, you'll know how odious this man is," he wrote. "Those men didn't die for this ideology or a------- like Pete Hegseth."

British attorney Jessica Simor pointed to Hegseth's "Deus Vult" tattoo — the 1095 Crusader rallying cry of Pope Urban II to expel Muslims from Jerusalem, which has since been adopted as a symbol by far-right extremists. "As a far-right Christian nationalist, likely of the kind that favoured the Final Solution, he should have been banned," she wrote.

[Marie Marie]

14. The Trump Administration - making enemies the world over.

[Karasu]

15. The EU needs to stop letting these fuckers in just to give them lectures about promoting fascism in their OWN countries.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

16. MaddowBlog-Hegseth faces pushback after voicing anti-immigrant message at D-Day commemoration

This wasn’t CPAC or a conservative media interview; these were prewritten remarks from a U.S. defense secretary at a solemn event.

It’s not easy for a leading American official to screw up a D-Day commemoration ceremony in Normandy.

With his ugly anti-immigrant remarks, Pete Hegseth managed to find a way to do it anyway.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-06-08T13:23:53.048Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/hegseth-faces-pushback-after-voicing-anti-immigrant-message-at-d-day-commemoration

Soon after, the former Fox News host delivered his comments, at which point things went from bad to worse. NBC News reported:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a speech marking the anniversary of D-Day in France on Saturday, commemorating 82 years since the 1944 push to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe, to lambast what he described as another “invasion” of Europe’s shores.

“Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies,” Hegseth said in a speech at the Normandy American Cemetery in ​Colleville-sur-Mer. “Beaches in Spain, in Italy, in Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion, or is ​it too late? I pray not, and I believe not.”

On D-Day, the lesson was supposed to be alliance, sacrifice, and the defense of democracy. Hegseth turns that memory into an anti-migrant “invasion” riff.

— The Steady State (@thesteadystate.org) 2026-06-06T23:00:03.785Z

That Hegseth has an anti-immigrant vision is unsurprising, but context is everything. This wasn’t CPAC or a conservative media interview, these were prewritten remarks at a D-Day commemoration ceremony.

A day later, even Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, the former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, conceded during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” that Hegseth’s remarks were “inappropriate.”

The Texan, who’s retiring at the end of his term, added, “Look, there’s a time and a place for these issues of immigration. That was not the day, not the anniversary of D-Day. I think out of respect to the veterans, and myself being the son of a D-Day veteran, those remarks were out of place. I think it should have been about their sacrifice, their service to their country, and what they did to protect the free world at a time of great peril against Nazi Germany.”

[oasis]

17. The outrageous cabinet misfit: Sec. Pete Hogshit.