Pete Hegseth Called Out for Giving ‘Pulp Fiction’ Prayer

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What to Know

01 Pete Hegseth's Pentagon prayer was eerily similar to lines from 'Pulp Fiction.'
02 People compared them, line for line.
03 A Pentagon spokesman spoke out about the accusations.

When Pete Hegseth spoke to an audience at the Pentagon and recited a prayer, he made a mistake that everyone is talking about. Instead of directly quoting the Bible, as he appears to want to make it seem like he’s doing, Hegseth quoted the Quentin Tarantino movie Pulp Fiction. And fans of the movie who heard some familiar lines had to do a double take when they watched the video on X (formerly Twitter).

Later, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell spoke out about people comparing Hegseth’s speech to the one said by Samuel L. Jackson’s character in the classic film. Parnell defended Hegseth, as was to be expected. But people have taken clips of Hegseth and spliced them with clips from the movie to prove that Hegseth got his real life Bible verses mixed up with his favorite flick, apparently.

His Pentagon prayer sounds a lot like what Samuel L. Jackson says in the movie.

In Pulp Fiction, Jackson’s character menacingly recites a prayer of sorts when he says, “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children, and I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the law when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”

Hegseth’s isn’t totally unlike that, which is what caused people to pause, replay the video, and then watch it for a third or fourth time. Because, what?

Hegseth said, during his prayer at the Pentagon, “The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of camaraderie and duty, shepherd the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother. And you will know My call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen.”

According to Deadline, the actual Bible passage is, “And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes’ and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.” However close to the source material both speeches or prayers are, people still can’t get over the similarities between Pulp Fiction and what Hegseth said.

People can’t believe it’s real life at this point.

It’s hard to say what is more out of pocket: Hegseth seemingly quoting that movie as a prayer, or praying, period, while working in a government capacity and speaking in a government building.

Someone commented on the X post with a video from the event with, “Hahaha coming from the administration who told the Pope to stay out of politics. This legitimately could be an SNL skit..”

Another user wrote, “That’s quite an achievement. In one week Trump mocks Jesus, Vance mocks the Pope, and Hegseth reads fake Bible quotes. Way to go boys.”

The Pentagon’s spokesman defended Pete Hegseth.

Parnell wrote on X about Hegseth’s prayer and, in his post, he defended the Department of War leader. According to him, Hegseth did nothing wrong and he merely spoke of the Bible and totally didn’t mean to quote Pulp Fiction.

“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,” he wrote on X. “Anyone saying the secretary misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 is peddling fake news and ignorant of reality.”

READ NEXT: Pete Hegseth Delivers Mixed Message About Women in the Military

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Chrissy Bobic