US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thought he was quoting the Bible during a speech at the Pentagon on the Iran war this Wednesday, but he actually referred to a prayer invented in Quentin Tarantino's film "Pulp Fiction".

He thought he was quoting the Bible, but he only imitated Samuel L. Jackson. Pete Hegseth, who was giving a speech about the Iran-Iraq War at the Pentagon on Wednesday, mistook a Bible verse invented by Quentin Tarantino in his film "Pulp Fiction" for a real religious text.

The US Secretary of Defense quoted this passage from the cult film almost word for word.

Before reciting the false verse, Pete Hegseth told his audience that he had discussed with Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. forces during the Iran war, how religious precepts influence their political and military decisions, Forbes reports.

He then stated that this reminded him of a prayer entrusted to him by the head of the recent combat search and rescue (CSAR) mission to find and rescue the U.S. Air Force crew members shot down in Iran. He specified that this prayer, titled "CSAR 2517," incorporated certain terms from the biblical verse Ezekiel 25:17, without, however, mentioning that it was a near-literal adaptation of the violent monologue delivered by Samuel L. Jackson just before his character committed murder.

American Christians, already recently offended by Donald Trump

On social media, many internet users reacted to the video of Pete Hegseth's sermon, which has been widely circulated.

Some wondered if it was satire, while others were astonished by the violence of his remarks. This would be the second consecutive service in which the Secretary of Defense used verses and violent messages to address the war in Iran: "Grant this task force clear and just targets for carrying out violence," he prayed last month.

Recently, Donald Trump offended some of his Christian supporters by criticizing the Pope on Orthodox Easter. Pope Leo XIV had criticized the Trump administration for starting the war in Iran. In a lengthy post on Truth Social, the president called him "weak in the face of crime and a poor diplomat."

He also posted an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus descending from heaven, holding a globe of light and placing a hand on the forehead of a sick man, before deleting the post, explaining that he thought it was a representation of him as a doctor, without offering an apology. On Wednesday, he posted another AI-generated image of himself embracing Jesus.