Hegseth Draws Republican Rebuke Over D-Day Immigration Speech at 82nd Anniversary
Updated
Updated · The Daily Beast · Jun 7
Hegseth Draws Republican Rebuke Over D-Day Immigration Speech at 82nd Anniversary
3 articles · Updated · The Daily Beast · Jun 7
Summary
Michael McCaul, the son of a D-Day veteran, said Pete Hegseth's immigration remarks at Saturday's Normandy commemoration were "out of place" and "inappropriate," marking notable backlash from within the Republican Party.
At the American cemetery in France, Hegseth said European beaches were now being "stormed" by migrants arriving in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, casting immigration as a new "invasion."
The speech also drew criticism from some MAGA-aligned voices who agreed with his anti-immigration stance but said a D-Day memorial on French soil was the wrong venue.
Protests had already greeted Hegseth's visit to Langrune-sur-Mer, where local residents denounced what they called warlike and supremacist rhetoric, while the Pentagon separately defended his travel as compliant with ethics and spending rules.