Historians and Rights Advocates Slam Pete Hegseth for Linking D-Day Anniversary to Migration Issues

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has faced intense backlash from historians and human rights advocates after using a D-Day anniversary event to draw parallels between the historic Normandy landings and current European migration trends. Critics have labeled his comments as “grotesque stupidity” and an affront to the memory of the soldiers who fought in World War II.

Speaking on Saturday in northwest France to commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the landings, Hegseth used the occasion of Europe’s liberation to criticize the migration policies of various European nations. Addressing the crowd at the American military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, the former Fox News host claimed that European shores are now being “stormed” by “dangerous ideologies.”

“Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive,” Hegseth stated. “When will European capitals do something about that invasion, or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not.” He further argued that the freedom restored by the fallen soldiers must be maintained by current leaders and military personnel to prevent those sacrifices from becoming “merely temporary.”

The remarks sparked immediate condemnation online. Historian and author Simon Schama described the speech as a “special kind of loathsomeness,” blending “historical deafness” with “comically ludicrous self-importance.” Schama questioned how the rhetoric of anti-immigration sentiment could be compared to the war against the Third Reich, calling the attempt to lecture the “actual heroes” of the war absurd.

Israeli human rights lawyer Daniel Seidemann also criticized the speech, calling it an “obscene desecration” of the memories of those who fought and died at Normandy. Meanwhile, Swedish economist Anders Åslund highlighted the contradiction between Hegseth’s claims of alliance and his criticism of internal European affairs. Åslund noted that Hegseth’s comments were particularly “clueless” given the Trump administration’s threats to reduce troop levels in Europe and Hegseth’s own absence from a key NATO meeting.

Hegseth’s rhetoric mirrors a broader pattern within the US administration’s tendency to criticize EU migration, despite the United States maintaining a higher proportion of foreign-born residents than the European Union.

The tension extended to other high-ranking officials; shortly before the speech, Vice President JD Vance posted on social media attributing the murder of 18-year-old British student Henry Nowak to immigration. However, Nowak’s killer was a British-born Sikh who received a life sentence. UK Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy later told Sky News that he had a conversation with Vance to correct the record, stating, “This has got nothing to do with mass migration… I said: ‘Look, Mr Vice-president, you’re wrong about this.’”

The visit was contentious from the start. The Langrune en Commun residents’ association had previously called for the trip’s cancellation, arguing that Hegseth promotes values contrary to democracy, human rights, and peace. Chantal Richard, a member of the association, told BFMTV that the Trump administration’s approach is not “business as usual,” asserting that Hegseth’s challenges to post-WWII international organizations represent “colonial, warmongering, racist, [and] far-right values” that must be called out.

Source link