Even as Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt traveled to Normandy Wednesday for D-Day’s 80th anniversary, a federal contractor in the U.S. claimed the U.S. flag is a “hate symbol.”
Epoch Education CEO Dr. Nancy Dome, a diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory advocate in schools – and at the U.S. Department of Education – has said on video the flag is “becoming a symbol of ‘hate’ and ‘extremism,’” according to a report by Fox News.
“It’s so offensive it’s hard to articulate,” Schmitt said of that view, in an exclusive interview with The Heartlander before embarking for France. “But I think it is indicative of this ideology that DEI embodies, which is cultural Marxism.
“I mean, they want to ultimately tear apart this country, cut the anchor that holds us together, which is the belief in a meritocracy and that people can achieve things, and America is a good place and unique in the history of the world – and that we value individual freedoms.
“They don’t believe in that. And they’ll use flowery language like diversity and inclusion, but really this is about constant churning, a permanent revolution in Marxism. And I think when somebody says something like that, they’re kind of exposed for what they really are, which is anti-American.”
Schmitt said he’s going to Normandy because “I think it’s important to honor the Missourians who gave their lives that day.
“I’m the grandson of a World War II hero. He wasn’t first-wave D-Day, but came over later and fought in Europe to liberate a continent and save the world. Those men deserve our respect, and I intend to honor them and go to some gravesites when I’m over there, along with the ceremonies.”
Still, attitudes such as Dome’s toward America and its flag are troubling – and perhaps a sign, even as the world celebrates the Allies’ historic battle for freedom, that the fight for it here in the United States isn’t over.
“Well, I do think we’re battling forces in this country that don’t want America to be exceptional. They don’t,” Schmitt said. “They want us to be a socialist society, and are willing to sort of weaponize institutions to go after people who object, who dissent. And we’ve got to fight against that, absolutely.
“Look, Ronald Reagan I think put it best that freedom is only one generation away from extinction. And so, it’s up to every generation to fight back. I’ve tried to do that in my time as attorney general, and now as a senator, to fight for individual rights and people’s ability to live their lives and make their own decisions. But that is certainly under assault by many on the left.”
Schmitt is also mindful of the ongoing battle for America’s own border – and says President Joe Biden’s much-ballyhooed executive order allowing certain levels of illegal immigration to continue is not a sincere attempt to solve the humanitarian crisis of Biden’s own making.
“It’s an election-year ploy to sort of fool the American people that he cares about the border,” Schmitt argues. “This is the guy that undid all the success we had under President Trump, a 45-year low in illegal immigration. And now we have 10 million people here illegally; fentanyl, streaming across our border, killing community members all across this country; crime; a national security risk – all because [Democrats] believe in open borders.
“This attempt to act like he cares, by the way, doesn’t really help the situation. It normalizes over a million people here illegally. It also doesn’t include in the count unaccompanied children, which is a signal to the cartels they can continue to traffic children. So, it’s really a joke.”
