- Pete Hegseth, American Secretary of Defense, was in Normandy on Saturday June 6 to commemorate D-Day.
- He notably spoke of an “invasion” of immigrants on European beaches.
- He also failed to attend one of the ceremonies, claiming a scheduling problem.
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D-Day: 80 years of the Normandy landings
In the midst of the war against Iran, the American Secretary of State for Defense Pete Hegseth was in Normandy on Saturday, on the D-Day beaches, 82 years after D-Day. And Donald Trump’s loyalist was controversial.
The first images initially took aback. We see Pete Hegseth getting off the plane at Orly, cap screwed on his head, alongside his wife and six of their children. The French Minister of the Armed Forces, Catherine Vautrin, was there to welcome him, showing the gap between the official character and this relaxed family, as on the road to vacation (see the video at the top of this article).
A little later, he failed at the ceremony in Langrune-sur-Mer (Calvados), claiming a scheduling problem. On the other hand, he goes to that of Colleville-sur-Mer, 37 km further west, near Omaha Beach and the American cemetery.
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But his speech leaves the audience and his interlocutors unmoved. In particular, he compares the landing of American soldiers on the beaches of Normandy to immigration.
“Different European beaches are being invaded by various dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and men are arriving”
he said. “When will European capitals finally react to this invasion?”
Before urging European countries to increase their defense capabilities.
