Pete Hegseth: One Controversy Away From Another Controversy

Pete Hegseth’s time as Defense Secretary has produced enough strange headlines that the Pentagon could probably use a laugh track.

Start with Signalgate. In March 2025, Hegseth discussed upcoming U.S. strikes on Yemen in a Signal chat that accidentally included The Atlantic’s Editor.

A later Pentagon Inspector-General review found that the messages included nonpublic strike timing and aircraft information and created an operational-security risk.

Then came television. In June 2026, Hegseth told Margaret Brennan that reports of ammunition shortages were a “manufactured story.” Brennan reminded him that he had testified under oath that rebuilding some stockpiles would take “months and years.”

His response was essentially: Please stop reading my own testimony to me.

At a Pentagon Prayer Service, Hegseth also introduced a dramatic Bible passage:

Ezekiel 25:17.

Hegseth, leading a Pentagon prayer service, recited the biblical verse            Ezekiel 25:17, describing it as a tactical military creed that he claimed was based on the scripture.

In reality, the verse he delivered was adapted from the famous Samuel L. Jackson fictional monologue in Quentin Tarantino’s movie Pulp Fiction.

The verse is not actually Ezekiel 25:17 at all. The passage Samuel L. Jackson gives in the movie does have a similar sentence from Ezekiel 25:17, but it is mostly a mix of Psalm 23 and Quentin Tarantino violent dialogue.

So, apparently the Pentagon now has a Quentin Tarantino Theology Department.

At Quantico, Hegseth stood in front of America’s top military leaders and complained about “fat generals and admirals” and “stupid rules of engagement.” Because apparently the Pentagon’s biggest threats are love handles and reading the instruction manual.

Hegseth wanted Patton. Instead, he sounded like the kid who failed the group project, grabbed the microphone anyway, and spent 45 minutes explaining why everybody else was an idiot.

And the cherry on top…

Signalgate: The Sequel!

Hegseth discussed similar military details, from the original Signal chat in March 2025, in another Signal chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer.

Hegseth doesn’t seem to stumble into controversy so much as locate it, introduce himself, and pull up a chair.

~ Jel Michaels, Washington, D.C.