Pete Hegseth Sparks Pentagon Controversy After Citing Pulp Fiction As Bible Verse

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparked a firestorm of controversy after he read what he presented as a Bible verse during a Pentagon prayer service, using language that critics said closely resembled a monologue from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction.

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20 Minutes

Multiple outlets described the setting as an official religious event inside the Pentagon, with Al-Jazeera Net saying the incident occurred “during a prayer gathering inside the Pentagon” and that Hegseth “used the text to lend a religious dimension to military operations.”

20 Minutes

The Daily Mail reported that Hegseth “appeared to draw inspiration from a fake Bible verse recited in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction while giving a sermon on Wednesday,” and the San Francisco Chronicle said he “cited ‘Pulp Fiction’ line as Bible verse at Pentagon prayer service.”

Rolling Stone said Hegseth “quoted fake scripture from the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction” during a “lengthy diatribe barely disguised as a sermon” at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

The core dispute centered on whether Hegseth was misquoting Ezekiel 25:17, or whether the Pentagon treated the recitation as a custom prayer tied to combat search-and-rescue traditions.

In the middle of the controversy, the Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell defended the remarks in a post on X, writing that the prayer was “obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction” while also saying it reflected “the verse Ezekiel 25:17.”

Hegseth introduced the recitation as “CSAR 25:17,” which multiple outlets described as a reference to Ezekiel 25:17, and he invited the audience to pray with him as he delivered a longer passage than the King James version.

The Hill quoted Hegseth telling those gathered at the Department of Defense, “So the prayer is CSAR 25:17 and it reads, and pray with me please, ‘The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.”

24 Heures

The same outlet continued with Hegseth’s lines: “Blessed is he who in the name of camaraderie and duty shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children,” followed by “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother.”

The Hill then reported Hegseth added, “and you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee,” and concluded with “Amen.”

Deadline reproduced Hegseth’s full recitation as well, including “And you will know My call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen.”

Rolling Stone said Hegseth presented the monologue “as a prayer,” claiming it had been recited by members of the Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) team that recovered a downed pilot from Iran earlier this month.

The Pentagon’s response centered on Sean Parnell’s defense that the remarks were a “custom prayer” and that the underlying reference was Ezekiel 25:17, even while conceding the wording was inspired by Pulp Fiction.

“Toggle Play Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth reads fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth read a prayer drawn from Samuel L Jackson’s misquote of Ezekiel 25:17 in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction”

Al Jazeera

Deadline reported that Parnell wrote, “Secretary Hegseth on Wednesday shared a custom prayer, referenced as the CSAR prayer, used by the brave warfighters of Sandy-1 who led the daylight rescue mission of Dude 44 Alpha out of Iran, which was obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction.”

Deadline also quoted Parnell’s insistence that “both the CSAR prayer and the dialogue in Pulp Fiction were reflections of the verse Ezekiel 25:17, as Secretary Hegseth clearly said in his remarks at the prayer service,” and it added Parnell’s warning that “Anyone saying the Secretary misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 is peddling fake news and ignorant of reality.”

Al-Jazeera Net described a Pentagon spokesperson denial as well, saying the spokesperson “quickly denied the charges” and asserted the minister used a “special prayer” inspired by the film.

In contrast, critics and commentators treated the recitation as a fake Bible verse, with the Daily Mail saying viewers pointed out that “his wording didn't sound much like Ezekiel 25:17” and that it resembled a monologue in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.

Al-Jazeera Net quoted journalist Antonello Guerra saying, “You can't make something like this up,” and it also included social media reactions such as Andy Signor writing “Is this real?”

Several outlets tied the Pentagon prayer controversy to a broader sequence involving Iran and to the timing of Hegseth’s remarks during a Pentagon worship service.

The Hill said Hegseth repeated the air rescue group’s prayer during a Pentagon service and that it was “called CSAR 25:17, an apparent reference to Ezekiel 25:17 in the Bible,” recited during a mission to recover the pilot of a U.S. F-15E fighter jet shot down in Iran earlier this month.

Al-Jazeera Net

The San Francisco Chronicle added specific dates, saying Hegseth spoke during the service “on Wednesday, April 15,” and it described him speaking at a press briefing “on Thursday, April 16.”

Deadline described the prayer as marking the rescue of a downed airman in Iran “earlier this month,” and it said Hegseth asked the audience to join him in prayer “on Wednesday.”

Rolling Stone said Hegseth hosted his regular worship service and sermon at the Pentagon on Wednesday and claimed it was “recited by members of the Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) team that recovered a downed pilot from Iran earlier this month.”

Al-Jazeera Net connected the episode to how war is framed, saying Hegseth used the text “to lend a religious dimension to military operations,” and it described “deeper implications” about how war is framed in Iran.

The controversy also fed into wider political and religious disputes described by the sources, with some coverage linking it to criticism of Trump and to advice about how Hegseth should speak during the Iran conflict.

“Pete Hegseth appeared to draw inspiration from a fake Bible verse recited in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction while giving a sermon on Wednesday”

Daily Mail

The Hill reported that Hegseth “has faced criticism for regularly invoking Christianity during his media briefings and hosting monthly prayer services at the Pentagon,” and it said former White House strategist Steve Bannon advised Hegseth “to tone down religious references in briefings on the conflict with Iran.”

Daily Mail

Rolling Stone said the administration had “no plans to stop browbeating its critics with incorrect and sacrilegious invocation of biblical teachings,” and it described Hegseth’s broader pattern of invoking Christian scripture “to justify the administration’s disastrous war against Iran.”

Al-Jazeera Net said the incident sparked “wide controversy” and described a “wave of reaction on social media,” while also noting that Pentagon spokespersons denied the charges and defended the recitation as a “special prayer.”

The Daily Mail framed the episode as part of a larger set of Christian rhetoric by saying Hegseth “has found no shortage of ways to bring his Christian faith into the Pentagon,” including hosting “monthly Christian worship services for employees.”

NDTV Profit described the controversy as “Holy Or Hollywood?” and said the episode came “at a sensitive time” as tensions escalated between Trump and Pope Leo.