Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (a.k.a. Whiskey Pete Kegseth) traveled to France on Friday for a commemoration of the D-Day landings, which took place on June 6, 1944. But he got a cold reception and wound up leaving humiliated.
According to The Daily Beast and BFM TV, “The 45-year-old Secretary of Defense was ‘persona non grata’ for locals of Langrune-sur-Mer, a small town in Normandy where an international ceremony was held on Saturday.”
Protests of Hegseth’s visit began before he even arrived, with Sylvie Lamy Thepaut, a member of the local association Langrune en Commun, noting, “He has very warlike remarks, and it seems to us that he does not exactly share our values of democracy and freedom.”
Additionally, a local civic and political organization also lit into Hegseth, issued a blistering statement that read, “This individual holds values contrary to democracy, human rights, and peace. This is evidenced by his numerous anti-European remarks,” the group said, recounting Hegseth’s earlier statements about “the parasitism of Europeans” and “his American supremacist remarks such as ‘the War Department.’”
“The honor of Langrune, that of France, and the memory of the young allies, American, British, Canadian… who died on our beaches in the name of democracy would dictate canceling the visit of this individual.”
Chantal Richard, a member of the group, Langrune en Commun, went even further.
“What’s happening with the Trump administration isn’t business as usual. The fact that Pete Hegseth is challenging all the international organizations that emerged from the Second World War isn’t business as usual,” she said. “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. Silence seems to us to be the worst thing we can do on these issues.”
Speaking at the D-Day event, Hegseth couldn’t resist being divisive, and his remarks sounded the same hateful anti-immigrant tone that comes from his boss, the so-called “president” of the United States, Donald Trump.
“The men buried here thought in a war-fighting alliance where every partner brought its full measure of industry, courage, and sacrifice,” Hegseth told his French hosts. “Not empty slogans, not lavish summits, not communiqués. Real allies doing real things, taking real losses for a shared cause worth fighting and dying for. Each nation pulled its way.”
“Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain, in Italy, in Greece, and in Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion, or is it too late?”
Oh, it’s far too late, Pete. You and your boss have already damaged the trust our European allies once had in us. It’s almost as if you and Dementia Don are working for someone else. Could it be the tyrant who lives in the Kremlin and is BFFs with Trump?
