Hegseth Compares Airman's Rescue to Resurrection of Jesus

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday framed a high-risk Easter rescue in Iran in explicitly Christian terms, comparing it to the biblical story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the New York Times reports. Detailing how an American F-15E was shot down over Iran, Hegseth noted the jet went down on Good Friday, which marks the day Jesus was crucified in the Christian tradition, and said the airman hid "in a cave, a crevice" through Saturday, which Hegseth likened to the tomb cut into a rock in which Jesus was said to be buried. The airman was airlifted out "as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday," Hegseth concluded. He called the airman "a pilot reborn" and said his first message to US forces after contact was "God is good."

The comments are the latest instance of Hegseth referencing Christian theology while overseeing a heavy bombing campaign against Iran, a Shiite theocracy. He has previously urged Americans to pray "in the name of Jesus Christ" for victory, praised the medieval Crusades, and has "Deus vult" ("God wills it") tattooed on his arm—a slogan he embraces as a battle cry of the Crusades, even as he has acknowledged the wars were "bloody" and "full of unspeakable tragedy."

Christian leaders, including Pope Leo XIV, have pushed back on such rhetoric. The first US-born pope has repeatedly condemned efforts to present the war as divinely endorsed and warned against using Christianity to justify domination. At the same news conference where Hegseth made his resurrection analogy, President Trump said God supports the Israeli-US campaign against Iran because "God wants to see people taken care of," while insisting he does not "enjoy" the conflict or "seeing people get killed." Thousands, including civilians, have been killed in the war so far. Trump said multiple times that "God was watching us" during the rescue mission, Fox News reports. Politico reports that this Easter, the Trump administration posted explicitly Christian messages to mark the holiday, going a step beyond what previous administrations have posted.