US Defence Secretary Hegseth invokes Bible to compare reporters to enemies of Jesus
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Mr Pete Hegseth, a frequent critic of the US media, delivering a press briefing on the US-Israel war with Iran at the Pentagon on April 16.
PHOTO: PETE MAROVISH/NYTIMES
- US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth likened the press to Pharisees plotting against Jesus, criticising their negative coverage of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
- This comparison occurred amid a feud between President Trump, who posted images depicting himself as Jesus, and Pope Leo, a critic of the war.
- Pope Leo condemned those using religion for political gain after Hegseth's remarks, amid ongoing media battles and constitutional concerns.
AI generated
WASHINGTON – US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth cited biblical scripture on April 16 to attack the media, comparing reporters to Jewish adversaries of Jesus Christ plotting “how to destroy him”.
Mr Hegseth’s comments sought to counter what he sees as negative coverage of the US-Israeli war with Iran. They also come amid an escalating feud between US President Donald Trump and Pope Leo, the first US-born leader of the Catholic Church and a critic of the war.
That feud took a new turn this week when the US President posted images on social media of Jesus embracing him and of Trump himself as a Jesus-like figure.
Mr Hegseth, whose Christianity has become a focus of his tenure as head of the Pentagon, used his opening remarks at a Pentagon briefing on the Iran war to reflect on a Sunday sermon about how Pharisees sought to undermine Jesus even after watching him perform a miracle.
Their hearts were hardened against Jesus, Mr Hegseth said, and “the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel against him, how to destroy him.”
“I sat there in church and I thought, our press is just like these Pharisees,” Mr Hegseth said in front of reporters assembled in the Pentagon briefing room, adding he was not referring to everyone, just “the legacy, Trump-hating press”.
“The Pharisees scrutinised every good act in order to find a violation. Only looking for the negative. The hardened hearts of our press are calibrated only to impugn.”
In recent days, Mr Hegseth and Mr Trump have repeatedly turned to Christian language to discuss the war, with both calling the Easter Sunday rescue of a downed US airman in Iran a miracle.
Mr Hegseth, at a prayer service in March, prayed for troops to be able to deliver “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy”.
US presidents and administrations have throughout history invoked the Christian faith in times of war. But the Trump administration has set itself apart in its use of stark, unequivocal religious language, said history professor John Fea of Messiah University, who has written extensively about evangelicals and politics.
It has also widened a rift with Pope Leo.
Less than an hour after the Pentagon’s press conference ended, the Pope, who is from Chicago, posted on X: “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
Mr Hegseth is a frequent critic of the US media, which he says is biased against Mr Trump.
He has waged an unprecedented legal battle with the media over a Pentagon credentialing policy that a federal judge in March ruled violated the US Constitution. The Pentagon is appealing that ruling. REUTERS
