Pete Hegseth's D-Day Immigration Remarks Spark Outrage, Branded 'Grotesque Stupidity'

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has drawn intense criticism from historians and human rights advocates for comments made during the 82nd-anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings in Colleville-sur-Mer, north-west France. Speaking on Saturday at the American military cemetery, Hegseth equated current European immigration with a modern 'invasion,' a pronouncement widely labeled as 'grotesque stupidity' and a desecration of the memory of the soldiers who stormed Normandy's beaches.

Hegseth leveraged the solemn occasion, marking Europe's liberation from wartime tyranny, to reiterate the US administration's long-standing critique of European immigration policies. He stated, “Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies.” He specifically mentioned “beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive,” questioning when European capitals would address this “invasion” and whether it was already “too late.” He concluded by asserting that the freedom restored by the D-Day soldiers “must be maintained by this generation of leaders and war fighters, or what they fought for was merely temporary.”

The remarks, coming from the former Fox News host, immediately ignited a firestorm of condemnation across social media platforms. English historian, author, and television presenter Simon Schama characterized Hegseth’s speech as a “special kind of loathsomeness: a blend of historical deafness, grotesque stupidity and comically ludicrous self-importance.” Schama further scoffed at the implication that “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.”

From Jerusalem, Israeli human rights lawyer Daniel Seidemann also weighed in, describing Hegseth's statement as an “obscene desecration of the memories of those who stormed the beaches of Normandy, and especially of those who fell.” Anders Åslund, a Swedish economist and former senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, starkly contrasted Hegseth’s immigration comments with his later remarks about the US standing with its allies, calling it “so much nonsense.” Åslund highlighted that immigration policies are internal matters and pointed out Hegseth’s recent decision to skip a crucial NATO meeting and Donald Trump's pledges to reduce troop numbers in Europe, suggesting Hegseth's comments were particularly “clueless” given the perception of US unreliability.

Hegseth’s pronounced focus on EU migration mirrors similar rhetoric from other American officials, including former President Donald Trump, who have consistently criticized the supposed impact of migration on the continent. This stance persists despite the US having a higher proportion of foreign-born residents compared to the European Union.

Just hours before Hegseth's contentious speech, US Vice-President JD Vance also entered the immigration debate. Vance posted on social media, blaming immigration for the death of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old British student fatally stabbed in the UK. However, the UK justice secretary and deputy prime minister, David Lammy, subsequently clarified with Vance that Nowak's convicted killer was a British-born Sikh, emphasizing that the case had “nothing to do with mass migration” and stating definitively, “you’re wrong about this.”

The controversy surrounding Hegseth’s visit to France began even before his arrival, with the Langrune en Commun association, advocating for environmentalism and solidarity, demanding the trip's cancellation. In a press release, the association argued that Hegseth “promotes values that go against democracy, human rights and peace.” Chantal Richard, a member of the association, told BFMTV that it was crucial not to normalize the Trump administration’s actions. She stressed that Hegseth's challenge to post-World War II international organizations was not “business as usual” and that silence would be the “worst thing we can do” in the face of his “colonial, warmongering, racist, far-right values.”