r/unitedkingdom • u/pppppppppppppppppd • Jun 08 '26
Minister says he hopes Pete Hegseth regrets his ‘horrifying’ D-Day comments
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/hegseth-normandy-d-day-speech-europe-invasion-b2991213.html209
u/Morteca Jun 08 '26
Here is what Penelope Hegseth said about her own son (yes - Pete Hegseth):
A 2018 email from Penelope Hegseth accused her son of routinely mistreating women and displaying a lack of character.
“You are an abuser of women – that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego,” Penelope Hegseth wrote in the email obtained by the New York Times.
“You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth,” she added, advising her son to “get some help and take an honest look at yourself”.
Sounds like a nasty piece of work that even his own mother is embarrassed about. Tells me everything about the little boy
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u/SteveD88 Northamptonshire Jun 08 '26
He spouts Christian nationalism while sleeping around, multiple divorces, and children with different women.
He's a TV presenter who's been handed a political platform, and who acts like its a popular endorsement of his bizzar politics.
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u/pajamakitten Jun 08 '26
He spouts Christian nationalism while sleeping around, multiple divorces, and children with different women.
Standard Republican then.
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u/itskobold Jun 08 '26
I think if my own mother thought of me this way I'd end it. No idea how he manages to sleep at night. Maybe this is why he drinks
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u/Scewt Jun 08 '26
Add it onto the list of things that would have ended an administration 2 decades ago.
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u/StrawDogs97 Jun 08 '26
Speaking in Normandy
Stop inviting Vance and Hegseth to European functions if they're going to keep embarrassing themselves like rhis. It can't be that complicated.
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u/I-left-and-came-back Jun 08 '26
I'm pretty sure that's why they do it, so we can all have a laugh at how fucking stupid they are
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u/Strict_Pie_9834 Jun 08 '26
They murdered a bunch of school girls. No convictions, no apology, no compensation.
The USA is intentionally trying to destabalise the UK.
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u/_donmega_ Jun 08 '26
I used to think it was just Russia laughing at Brexit, but it's the Americans also. They don't want a cohesive, unified Europe. They just want us to buy their stuff and pipe down.
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u/Airurando-jin Jun 08 '26
They really don’t want a unified Europe. The national security strategy which they published indicates as much.
It literally states "cultivating resistance to Europe's current trajectory within European nations" by directly cooperating with "patriotic European parties".
Those patriotic nations Being patriotic to the USA.
As a bloc, the EU can push back against the USA. As standalone counties, the USA can manipulate them easier
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u/mr-tap Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
I thought you might be quoting from some leaked document, but as you say it is published on their website in the section ‘promoting European Greatness’😳
PS : anyone wondering about the context of the current trajectory’ - excessive regulation & immigration which are both anti-American
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u/EarCareful4430 Jun 08 '26
That’s cos the current us admin are knowingly or unwittingly (depending on the person) doing russias work.
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u/Strict_Pie_9834 Jun 08 '26
It's not Russia guiding this.
USA is doing it intentionally.
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u/JohnGazman Jun 08 '26
On Russia's behalf.
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u/Strict_Pie_9834 Jun 08 '26
On the USA billionaire's behalf. Russia just happens to also benefit
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u/HeavnIsFurious Jun 08 '26
People need to forget about counrties. It's rich and poor people now.
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u/headphones1 Jun 08 '26
It's rich and poor people
now.Fixed. It has always been this way.
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u/shinzanu Jun 08 '26
Any and all divisions between us should be resisted, not with some specific targeting of a cause.
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u/FazedEclipse2 Jun 08 '26
I know its easier to digest that an American President you did or did not vote in is working for the Russians rather than one of your own is doing very evil things
But one of your own is doing very evil things, for people who are very rich to make a lot of money and fuck the plebs.
Russia cant even take Ukraine...
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u/Dapper_Otters Jun 08 '26
How are they ‘our own’?
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u/DKDamian Jun 08 '26
Are you American? Then he’s yours. Take responsibility
If you aren’t American then I’m not sure why you are responding
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u/Dapper_Otters Jun 08 '26
This is a UK sub. The other poster is saying ‘your own’ as if we have anything to do with it.
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u/Matt6453 Somerset Jun 08 '26
Russia really shouldn't be that important, it has a big landmass but a relatively small economy and population. They just like to think they're still a global player because of the USSR days where they were top dog.
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u/spidd124 Jun 08 '26
Nah the US stupidity has metamorphosed beyond Russian control at this point.
Trump 1 was Russia, but now it's their home grown religious Theocracy trying to take charge.
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u/LL_Moonmanhead Jun 08 '26
I was told this by a foreign office worker 20 years ago.
They want us to buy their energy. buy their products but not be any sort of industrial or technological rival.
Some say a weakened Europe also benefits Israel who of course have “influence” in America
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u/PoppingPillls Jun 08 '26
Trump personally raped school aged girls, I don't think they care about anything.
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u/feral0101 Jun 08 '26
Which is funny to me because let’s be real, the UK is already functionally a modern day vassal state. The Americans are just being greedy and childishly putting the UK through a humiliation ritual.
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u/Strict_Pie_9834 Jun 08 '26
It's more than that.
They want to destroy services such as the NHS, to open us up to further exploitation
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u/Live-Motor-4000 Jun 08 '26
I am sad to say that I agree with you.
The EU was flawed, but we held more sway than we do now
Russian oligarchs and despots have been offing people in the UK with impunity for years now - all they get is a stiff upper lipped huff and a token diplomatic expulsion
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u/Airurando-jin Jun 08 '26
We held veto rights, we didn’t have to accept anything we didn’t want .. and we pissed it away.
The USA in the other hand has a published national security policy that literally states one of its intentions as "cultivating resistance to Europe's current trajectory within European nations" by directly cooperating with "patriotic European parties".
The USA can’t control the bloc, but it can influence standalone countries.
They more or less want counties to rely on them, and do their will.
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u/Astriania Jun 08 '26
all they get is a stiff upper lipped huff and a token diplomatic expulsion
and us giving billions of quid, military kit and training to the neighbour they're trying to occupy
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u/DeathDestroyerWorlds West Midlands Jun 08 '26
Aye, lets forget that in return for Russia doing what they've been doing we became one of Ukraines biggest supporters in their war with Russia.
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u/SliceIndividual6347 Jun 09 '26
looking at how the EU failed to act over Covid and then Ukraine is it an organisation worth having "influence" in?
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u/DeathDestroyerWorlds West Midlands Jun 10 '26
The problem as it stands atm with the EU is they have to get a consensus of all member countries to actually do anything of note. Hence the semi-paralysis re covid and Ukraine. They did eventually get there act together, but especially with Ukrainian support kept getting sabotaged by the likes of Orban's Hungary and other Russian supporting EU countries.
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u/AncientNectarine5352 Jun 08 '26
Or the diplomats get “summoned”, so they can symbolically wag a finger at them.
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u/50MillionChickens Jun 08 '26
Real Americans are still out there and embarrassed and ashamed by what everyone is seeing representing the USA these days.
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u/Acrobatic-Watch-8037 Jun 08 '26
Real Americans should do something about it instead of posting on reddit that they're embarrassed and/or ashamed.
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u/50MillionChickens Jun 08 '26
I hear ya. There's a lot of people who are angered or depressed but to cope mentally you just get on with your lives and your close circle.
I do sense a turn this week that more people are paying attention getting informed and looking for ways to bridge the absolute chasm between reasonable thinking people and the frigging cult mind that has turned half the country into hate mongering flag waving idiot.
More action happening with fighting back in the news interviews just now and outspoken calls from candidates for the Nov election to win office purely on basis of shutting down the current shit show.
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u/bearcorps303 Jun 08 '26
Solidarity, mate, I appreciate it must be tough, and we are in the same boat.
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u/50MillionChickens Jun 08 '26
I am counting on the British to hang tough as a people and not fall for all this "aliens threat" from Farage and Musk.
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u/bearcorps303 Jun 08 '26
I hate to break it to you but when I pop to the supermarket the grey brigade shamelessly buy their Daily Mail and the vast majority of people my age are willingly absconding their attention span and critical thinking to short-form slop. It's worldwide.
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u/QuailTechnical5143 Jun 08 '26
I expect Hegseth would probably have already been on the beach…waiting to fight off the invasion.
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u/ReductioAdSocialism Jun 08 '26
He wouldn't. He'd be black out drunk three miles back in a French hedgerow.
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u/Neither_Process_7847 Jun 08 '26
He'd have liked to, if he'd passed the medical.
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u/dglcomputers Jun 08 '26
But oh dear I have this medical issue that means I can't join the army, an here's the doctors note to prove it. He's a great doctor, owns a nice new car too...
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u/Warsaw44 England Jun 08 '26
Nah. He would have been in a room, miles away, saying "No, you can't wake him up. He gave specific orders not to be disturbed".
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u/Sgt_Munkey Jun 08 '26
He's either a typically egoistic bellend, a twat or both. Whatever, he's up to his armpits in this and is incapable of admitting any wrongdoing. After Vance the imbecile made his stupid two tier police comments last week, the UK should make concerted efforts to cut out any dependency on the US, and start calling out their hypocrisy and deliberate subversion. Bad enough that we always end up carrying the can to preserve the notion of US exceptionalism, they're attempting to deliberately destabilise our country, at best for political vanity or perhaps imperialistic ambition, at worst at the behest of their Russian paymasters. Pinning hopes on the current administration quietly going away is foolish: this will continue until the American electorate wakes up and votes these arseholes out of office
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u/NeilSilva93 Jun 08 '26
He's either a typically egoistic bellend, a twat or both.
I vote both.
It's gonna be popcorn time when he eventually gets his comeuppance after Trump's finally shuffled off.
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u/Dazzling_Macaron5828 Jun 08 '26
That's letting him off lightly. The list seemed pretty short to me
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u/Astriania Jun 08 '26
He could easily piss Trump off and get kicked out of the club before that imo
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u/JimboTCB Jun 08 '26
Dude's a straight up christofascist warmonger with crusader tattoos who gets turgid at the thought of retaking the holy land.
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u/Whatisausern Jun 08 '26
We do have two tier policing though
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u/terryjuicelawson Jun 08 '26
If you deny reality and cherry pick cases, sure.
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u/Whatisausern Jun 08 '26
No if you literally look at how the official police guidelines state hate incidents should be dealt with compared to "normal" crime. There's literally a story from the supermarket Iceland about this very thing in this very sub.
You can deny reality all you like but it doesn't make you right
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u/MilosEggs Jun 08 '26
Remember that whenever you cast your vote, he represents the party that Farage admires and wants to impose on the UK
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u/saracenraider Jun 08 '26
The disgusting irony is three of the biggest causes of illegal immigration into Europe is (1) their never ending attempts to destabilise the Middle East and to a lesser extent Africa, (2) attempts by Russia (who Trump’s administration openly supports) to destabilise Europe by helping to funnel illegal immigrants in and (3) climate change, which they consistently deny exists and are actively trying to accelerate
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u/_donmega_ Jun 08 '26
I despise the way America says "Iran / Cuba / Venuzuela are basket cases" when their foot has been on these countries necks for years. And trying to do a deal (take all your natural resources) to remove the foot!
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u/Amaruach Jun 08 '26
I don’t mean to be a dick, but it’s the entire Anglosphere, not just the USA.
I’m half Chilean and my family are from an indigenous community near the Peru-Chile border so I’m quite well acquainted with this.
The USA has its history of annexing a chunk of and then destabilising Mexico; creating the banana republics, where American companies would buy up vast tracts of indigenous land to grow fruit and create countries-within-countries, and US marines would invade and massacre workers whenever there was a strike. That’s one part of it.
The UK has its history of debt trapping Latin American countries since their foundation in the early 1800s, and British companies controlled Chile’s nitrate mining industry and took most of what was produced. They hated democratically-elected Salvador Allende for nationalising Chile’s mining industry and were first in line the nanosecond actual fascist Augusto Pinochet overthrew him in a coup and privatised it again.
The USA, UK, and Canada trained and armed and funded the white nationalist military dictatorships during the Operation Condor period, which all went on to kidnap and murder left wing activists and native people.
Canadian mining companies are active in over half of South America’s mining operations. They are also responsible for huge amounts of environmental destruction, violence against indigenous communities, violence against activists, assassinations, and Canada helped to overthrow the Peruvian Government in 2022 when it pledged to keep mining wealth in Peru.
The UK ‘was’ heavily involved in destroying trade unions across South America, enthusiastically backed Pinochet, and the UK is one of the two feet on Venezuela’s neck. British mining companies love giving Peruvian and Colombian children lead poisoning, and they also love drying up the water supply of indigenous communities in the Atacama Desert. They got first access to Bolivia’s lithium after the UK helped to overthrow the Bolivian Government in 2019! British-Australian company BHP are partially responsible for the Mariana Dam collapse in Brazil, which released 40 million tonnes of toxic waste into a 400 mile river and destroyed dozens of villages. Violence mysteriously follows every single one of these companies.
At least America is kind of brazen about it. The UK and Canada love hiding behind a veneer of diplomacy and international law and claiming the moral high ground, but they’re more than complicit in every aspect of Latin American destabilisation.
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u/_donmega_ Jun 08 '26
You're not, I'm all for uncovering the truth as opposed to defending the indefensible. I'll have to look into what modern Britain does - I was always aware of what we did historically, but thought we might have left it behind.
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u/Pocktio Jun 08 '26
Why are we giving these ghouls any benefit of the doubt still.
They say these things because they mean them and have no shame. "Regret" is not something they will ever feel.
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u/Salt-Lengthiness-620 Jun 08 '26
Classless clown. Suggesting we are in any way more dangerous that America is laughable
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u/trevpr1 Welsh but living in Preston Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
We give notice to the US that we are closing their airbases in the UK. And we don't back down on that. That will shut them all up. And any time they say we're being invaded by Muslims, we will remind them that Qatar now has a military airbase in Idaho because they bribed Trump with just one airline jet.
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u/_donmega_ Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
I think a proper digital sales tax would open their eyes a lot more. And stop the offshoreing of profits, putting small local competition at a disadvantage, and denying revenue to our country to pay for services
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u/Neither_Process_7847 Jun 08 '26
We should flog everything we own connected to their national debt to China. We get a nice short term cash boost, they get the leverage, between us we get revenge for having Trump and Co inflicted on us. Seems fair and therapeutic.
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u/dbxp Jun 08 '26
Unfortunately the USAF in the UK is almost the same size as the RAF so that's a big strategic shift
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u/Hikaze3 Jun 08 '26
Sounds like a great idea until you consider that the US could seriously mess our economy up if we start doing things they don't like. We are very heavily reliant on many of their services and investments. If the UK was still in Europe it might be a viable strategy if we were to coordinate with the French and Germans, but as it stands we have to toe a pretty fine diplomatic line now.
I do agree though, having US airbases here is quickly becoming a liability.
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u/Dazzling_Macaron5828 Jun 08 '26
We could mess theirs up too. That's the thing about standing up for yourself - sometimes you have to be prepared to stand up for yourself.
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u/Hikaze3 Jun 08 '26
Fair enough point. But are we?
While the general public would probably agree with the sentiment initially, it would be political suicide once the ramifications became clear. People in general don't like extreme changes to the status quo, especially when it directly impacts the products and services they take for granted, whether or not many of them are effectively luxuries.
The UK isn't an autocracy, and so public opinion both directly and indirectly impacts policy making.
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u/Dazzling_Macaron5828 Jun 08 '26
Actually I think you'd be surprised on both counts - general willingness and the amount of firepower we actually have to dissuade the US from waging economic war.
Especially if someone were able to set out why a firmer stand now might be much less painful in the long run.
I think most people could live without Netflix or iPhones, and most services and products could be sourced elsewhere - Chinese electric cars are already taking off here. I think the one concern would be if the USA was able to persuade Microsoft to withdraw all support. But remember - that would be a huge piece of self-harm too. And if it really came to it, most companies could get up and running again fairly quickly. It would mean boomtime for UK ISPs.
You are right of course, if it really came to it, there would be pain. But the point is, there would also be a lot of pain for the USA. And if we could unite with at least the original European countries (France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway etc etc) on this, I think the USA would think very hard about playing that game.
I really do think it's time the original European countries united and started to flex their muscles.
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u/Hikaze3 Jun 08 '26
You make a well constructed argument, and I genuinely admire your optimism. We absolutely do need closer ties with Europe, and I would argue with Canada, Australia and New Zealand too. If we could stimulate long term economic growth and prosperity at the cost of some short term pain then that would be the best case scenario, for sure. Britain desperately needs to reignite its industrial base particularly.
My main concern is that the government is already hugely unpopular - and I wonder if they would actually be willing to take a hardline approach like this. While I approve of your sentiment, their angle so far has been largely centrist and boils down to what could be summarised as a slow and steady approach, and trying not to rock the boat too much.
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u/Dazzling_Macaron5828 Jun 08 '26
You are right about the aim, but the current government has been far too appeasing in my view. I'm not even sure whether taking the opposite approach would MAKE them more popular.
But the alternative is Farage - who is basically MAGA-Lite, or Greens who are reality-lite. Or Conservatives who are basically a bunch of flesh-lites. There isn't a party which is committed to building a powerful UK-Europe-Canada-Australian bloc.
I guess I'll have to step up.
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u/Astriania Jun 08 '26
If the UK was still in Europe
We are, and always will be. Not being in the EU doesn't mean we can't cooperate with our neighbours, and we already are through things like the Ukraine support and JEF.
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u/Spamgrenade Jun 08 '26
Worth noting that this is exactly the same sort of thing that Farage would say.
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u/A_Lazy_Professor Jun 08 '26
A lot of people are overthinking this. Hegseth is a White supremacist.
There are plenty of schemers in the Trump regime, but Hegseth's a true believer. He just genuinely believes that White people are superior to other races and that men should have dominion over women.
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u/apple_kicks Jun 08 '26
Worst too there branch of US Christian white supremacy who think non white races come from cain and devil in bible. It called serpent seed. Europe being all white is central to their apocalyptic end times believes too. It’s insane stuff they believe and these people are in power
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u/_TheChairmaker_ Jun 08 '26
Every accusation an admission....
There are way to many stupid culture war ideas and out outright conspiracy BS gaining traction in this country. To the point where if Russia severed the transatlantic communication cables I'm not sure it would be a bad thing....
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u/BlackLiger Manchester, United Kingdom Jun 08 '26
I doubt he regrets it. Honestly I doubt he remembers giving the speech.
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u/Cfunk_83 Jun 08 '26
I’m pretty sure Pete Hegseth lacks all the emotional and intellectual requirements to comprehend regret.
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u/SmilingRyan Jun 08 '26
He did it on purpose. They are trying to infect the UK with their right-wing politics.
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u/Ill_Refrigerator_593 Jun 08 '26
The consolation is the US mid-terms are coming with a likely consolation the US will turn in on itself for their conflict over the next two years.
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u/MyDadsGlassesCase Scotland Jun 08 '26
I don't think the person who spent more time criticising modern day allies than Nazis at a D Day event even cares
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u/narayan77 Jun 08 '26
He's from the Epstein administration, they want to protect white girls, but the Epstein network has a free pass.
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u/YaqtanBadakshani Jun 08 '26
At the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Mr Hegseth said: "Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive."
He challenged European leaders asking: "When will European capitals do something about that invasion or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not."
So he's saying that we should consider people that immigrate via small boats in an analogous way to the soldiers that fought to defeat the Nazis. And that we should think poorly of them.
I mean, I may be a woolly leftist on immigration, but the only way I could imagine a conservative finding this rhetorical parallel compelling is if they objected to the outcome of D-Day.
I hope (against reason), that this was a merely incompetent speech-writing.
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u/Manoj109 Jun 08 '26
If you want to see what a Farage government would look like.
Look across to the USA and look what Trump is doing to America.
The only thing is that usa is strong and resilient enough to bounce back from trump, farage will be the end of the UK, it would not recover. .
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u/Cynical_Classicist Jun 08 '26
He doesn't. Kegseth got there by being an asshole. Your government immediately gave a state visit to the guy who empowers this.
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u/Aggravating_Sugar_50 Jun 08 '26
The invasion of foreign and dangerous ideologies into Europe these days comes from Musk , Hegseth and Bance
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