The US is already on thin ice with the government of Germany after the US' ambassador to the country, Richard Grenell, told Breitbart News in an article published June 3, "I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders."
"I think there is a groundswell of conservative policies that are taking hold because of the failed policies of the left," said the ambassador, who has occupied the position since April 26.
Those were the remarks to which Nauert was responding when she made the mind-boggling claim about the US invasion of Normandy, France, in an attempt to repel Nazi occupiers on June 6, 1944.
Nauert highlighted Grenell's freedom of speech, but the bombshell wasn't dropped until she tried to emphasize America's "strong" relationship with the German government.
"When you talk about Germany — we have a very strong relationship with the government of Germany," the senior State Department spokesperson said at a June 5 briefing. "Looking back in the history books, today is the 71st anniversary of the speech that announced the Marshall Plan. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the D-Day invasion. We obviously have a very long history with the government of Germany, and we have a strong relationship with the government."
The battle of Normandy, codenamed Operation Neptune, was the largest seaborne invasion in history and kickstarted the liberation of northwestern Europe with a decisive victory for the Allies against Nazi occupiers.
For clarification: that means the US and Germany were at war, and most definitely not involved in what anyone would call a "strong" relationship. The US would go on to form strong ties with Germany — after the Nazi government was defeated and much of its leadership killed.
The Normandy landings are viewed as the foundations of the defeat of the Nazis on the Western Front. The Soviet Union, Allied partners on the Eastern Front, launched Operation Bagration at the same time, which destroyed the Nazis' central army group, forcing them into a retreat that ended in the Soviet liberation of Berlin in April 1945.
The Marshall Plan referenced by Nauert was an effort by the United States to rebuild Western Europe's economy after the war, with 11 percent of the funding going to West Germany, which was formed out of Germany's territory liberated by the US, France, and UK. The Soviet Union formed a socialist East Germany out of the eastern part of German territory liberated by the Red Army during the war. The Marshall Plan was also meant to head off the spread of communism in Europe.
Nauert, some have pointed out, is an alumnus of Fox News. Coincidentally, Grenell was a foreign policy contributor at the network during the US 2016 elections.