At a Pentagon worship service on Wednesday, defense secretary Pete Hegseth recited an air rescue group’s prayer, claiming it was from the Bible’s Ezekiel 25:17. Instead, Hegseth delivered Samuel L. Jackson’s Bible-inspired monologue from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. The Pentagon later defended Hegseth’s “custom prayer.”
Stephen Colbert highlighted this on The Late Show on Thursday night, featuring Hegseth’s “custom prayer” alongside scenes from the 1994 film. Seeing the U.S. defense secretary quote Jackson’s Jules Winnfield, from a scene where the hitman interrogates and executes a man after eating his Big Kahuna Burger, is surreal.
“Despite all this, I want Hegseth to succeed,” said Colbert. “He’s the Secretary of Defense. If he succeeds, that means America succeeds. So please join me in prayer. God, I’m talking to you. You talking to me? Are you talking to me? War is like a box of chocolates. I’m tired of these MFing sins on my MFing soul.”