Pete Hegseth Quoted 'Pulp Fiction' at a Pentagon Prayer Breakfast — Mistaking It for the Bible

The Pentagon is wondering whether Pete Hegseth is a big Tarantino fan or if he is just really inept at fact-checking after his recent gaffe. Hegseth recently found himself in a sticky situation after he adduced an excerpt from a movie, mistaking it for a quote from the Bible. His remark left people confused at whether or not he knew the origin of the quotation.

During a recent Pentagon hearing, Hegseth attempted to recite a passage from the holy scripture. However, he ended up quoting a very famous dialogue from the 1994 blockbuster film “Pulp Fiction.”

During Wednesday’s prayer breakfast, Hegseth shed light on the recent rescue of an American pilot, whose aircraft had been shot down in Iran during the ongoing conflict. The Secretary of Defense went on to quote what he claimed was a prayer that had been said by the leader of the Combat Search and Rescue mission, who carried on the rescue mission of the stranded pilot on an Iranian mountain.​

With so much confidence, Hegseth claimed that the prayer is tagged as “CSAR 25:17” and that it was based on the passage of Ezekiel 25:17 of the Bible, The Guardian reported. However, it is far from the truth. The quote he cited is a misquoted version famously said by Samuel L. Jackson’s screen persona, Jules Winnfield, a professional assassin in the Quentin Tarantino movie.

In the movie, Jackson executes a business partner of his mob boss, while chanting, “The path of the righteous man 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 charity and goodwill, 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 Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.”

Hegseth announced, “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, shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children.”

He continued, “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.”

The original short Bible verse reads, “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.”

​In a post on X, Sean Parnell, the Pentagon press secretary, tried to cover up for Hegseth by saying that the prayer was “obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction.” However, Hegseth did not mention that before delivering his speech.