As war wages in Iran — spiking gas costs for millions of Americans across the nation — the Department of Defense kicked off the weekend by posting videos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth yelling about "redcoats."
In a series of videos posted on Saturday, Hegseth shouted Bible verses in the middle of a football field while wearing a T-shirt with the words "THIS IS WAR" tucked into his gym shorts. He was speaking to Texas A&M students serving in the National Guard who worked out with Hegseth.
"I'll swear an oath to something timeless, the Constitution that doesn't bend, it doesn't break," Hegseth said. "The Lord said, 'Who do I send?' and Isaiah says, 'Lord, I'm here, send me'...send me to go fight the redcoats, send me to go fight the communists, send me to go fight the Islamists."
The video was posted to the Department of War Rapid Response account along with snippets of Hegseth running up and down the bleachers. It was met with mockery of Hegseth and the war in Iran by critics on X.
"Some of you may think the job of the SECDEF is to advise POTUS, confer with senior leaders on strategy, acquisitions, R/D and other boring stuff," political analyst and The Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols sarcastically wrote. "It's not. It's to do PT with kids and bark Old Testament passages at them while losing a war to a third-rank power in the Gulf."
"Europe is mobilizing as we read this," lamented Missouri Democratic congressional candidate Fred Wellman. "As the U.S. Secretary of 'War' is going PT in a football stadium and touring with his wife."
"And Isaiah said, 'Run you waist-to-height ratio and testosterone numbers by me,'" joked actor Michael McKean, referring to Hegseth's controversial policies. "And I'll send your a— to SERVE THE LORD, who remains strangely silent in this matter."
"Really interesting new 'SEND ME TO WAR' hype campaign by the guy here wearing the WAR shirt who's sending them to a widely unpopular disaster marked by incompetence, lies and cruelty," blasted prominent activist and veteran Mike Prysner.