Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparked outrage by invoking the name of Jesus Christ in his latest press briefing on the war in Iran.
The Pentagon chief gave an update on the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation launched nearly three weeks ago by President Donald Trump, and he asked the American public to pray for the troops in an explicitly Christian appeal that offended many observers.
"May almighty God continue to bless our troops in this fight," Hegseth said. "To the American people, please pray for them every day on bended knee with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ."
Hegseth's comment drew attention on social media, as many noted the irony of praying for troops he calls "warfighters" in the name of Christ, who famously blessed peacemakers as the "sons of God."
"Using the line 'in the name of Jesus Christ' to encourage mass killing is despicable," noted Bluesky user lakerider.
"Crashing right through the separation of church and state," marveled Reuters reporter Michael Derby.
"Impeach him just for this. I'm serious," implored comics writer Greg Pak. "This is supposed to be a pluralistic democracy, not a Christian theocracy."
"He wants people to complain about the evocation of Jesus just so he can accuse them of not caring about the troops," opined X user Bill Henning. "It's cynicism all the way down."
"Hopefully Jesus will give you a damn wake up call," added artist Diana Rivera.
"Pete Hegseth is a fanatical Zionist conman who has publicly admitted that he is sacrificing the lives of American troops to help Israel trigger Armageddon, build the third temple and bring back their Jewish Messiah [the anti-Christ]," harrumphed the right-wing Kentucky Statesman account. "Why is he not behind bars?"
"I’m not Christian, Mr. Secretary," said attorney Bradley P. Moss.
"Neither are many of the soldiers Hegseth want us to pray to Christ for, "replied Bluesky user ILuvPolitix.
"Hegseth jokes about killing Iranians & then tells Americans to pray 'in the name of Jesus Christ' for the war," posted Baptist minister Brian Kaylor. "It's not job of gov't to tell us when/how to pray. But after his remarks this morning all I could think of was Mark Twain's brilliant 'The War Prayer.'"
"Anyone else think it's highly inappropriate for the defense secretary to say 'in the name of Jesus Christ' while he's doing a briefing about the U.S. killing people?" asked veteran journalist Mark Jacob.