Residents were sharply critical of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit to France on Saturday to commemorate the anniversary of the D-Day landings during WWII.
“He has very warlike remarks, and it seems to us that he does not exactly share our values of democracy and freedom,” Sylvie Lamy Thepaut, a member of the local Langrune en Commun association, told the outlet BFM TV in French, The Daily Beast reports.
“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,” Chantal Richard, another member of the group, told the station, The Daily Beast reports. “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.”
Prior to Hegseth’s visit, the group put out a statement, originally in French, slamming Hegseth’s “anti-European remarks.”
The Independent has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
Langrune-sur-Mer deputy mayor François-Xavier Palao told FranceInfo he hoped villagers could perhaps “set political considerations aside” around Hegseth’s visit and focus on those who fought and died during the war.
“It is not that we particularly like the man, but this is first and foremost a commemoration for the veterans,” he reportedly said.
Others reportedly complained about heightened security protocols that accompanied the U.S. official’s visit.
During his Normandy speech, Hegseth compared immigration to an “invasion” arriving on the shores of Europe.
“Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies,” he said. “Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive.”
He also seemed to suggest U.S. allies were no longer doing enough to preserve global security.
“Each nation pulled its weight; each nation bled,” he said of WWII by comparison. “America will lead — and we must — but capable allies must be right there with us, shoulder to shoulder, in the breach, when it matters.”
“We forgot that freedom is not free,” he added. “We forgot that peace is not wished into being. It is bought with purpose, with honor and with strength. The men who landed on these beaches knew this; the question we ask ourselves is, do we?”
The Trump administration has been sharply critical of U.S. allies in NATO, alleging they don’t spend enough on Europe’s continental defense and that they let American forces down by largely declining to assist in the U.S. war against Iran.
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