Hegseth, at D-Day event, says Europe faces 'invasion' of dangerous ideologies

[70sEraVet]

Source: MSN

"Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive," Hegseth said in a speech at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.

"When will European capitals do something about that invasion or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not," he said.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/hegseth-at-d-day-event-says-europe-faces-invasion-of-dangerous-ideologies/ar-AA24YJSP?ocid=BingNewsSerp

---

This is why we shouldn't send a wanna-be Nazi to represent us at a D-Day commemoration ceremony.

[surfered]

1. I thought Fascism was the dangerous ideology.

[chicoescuela]

3. Exactly correct. He is an f-ing asshole

[republianmushroom]

6. It is. and we are facing it now.

[twodogsbarking]

14. He is describing himself and his marching band.

[johnnyfins]

2. What a fucking disgrace.

[AverageOldGuy]

4. Hegseth is right . . .

. . . the dangerous, destructive ideology known as "Trumpism" is invading.

[Hey Joe]

5. Dangerous ideologies indeed

Pete needs to consult a mirror.
Amazing that this ignorant punk even has an audience .

[cab67]

7. was he booed?

should have been. very inappropriate.

[MLWR]

8. This regime can't even run this country successfully,

and yet they just have to stick their (unwanted) noses into other countries' business.

[purr-rat beauty]

9. I would think...

He'd be considered a war criminal and arrested

I guess not

[wolfie001]

10. Sick nat-ZEE fuck

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. On this 82 anniversary of #DDay remember to thank #Antifa

[mcar]

12. We were there in October and had the privilege

of witnessing the end of day ceremony. It was very moving.

Fck Kegbreath for defiling that sacred space.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

13. Yep

Dangerous ideologies from idiot Hegseth and his Lardass boss. Why is this cretin still breathing?

[Quanto Magnus]

15. yeah the fascists

are trying to invade Europe like they are currently doing in the U.S.

[Karasu]

16. It does face such an invasion, every single time someone from this regime goes to some event in

Europe and tells European leaders to do what they want them to fucking do. Why the EU hasn’t blocked these fucking people is beyond me.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. 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.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. 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.”