WASHINGTON (AP) — The man overseeing the country’s military reposted a video about a Christian nationalist church, which included various pastors saying women are no longer allowed to vote.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a profound personal connection Thursday night, and his intimate relationship with Christian nationalist pastors was filled with extreme views on religion and women’s role.
In the post, Hegseth commented on a nearly seven-minute report from CNN, studying Doug Wilson, co-founder of the Reformed Evangelical Church or CREC. The report features various clergy from factions advocate the abolition of women’s constitutional voting rights and says women should “submit to their husbands.”
“The whole Christ of a lifetime,” Heggs wrote in the post that accompanied the video.
Hegseth’s post received over 12,000 Likes and 2,000 shares on X. Some users agree with the priest in the video, while others alert the defense minister who promotes Christian nationalist ideas.
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell told the Associated Press on Friday that Heggs is a “pride member of the church” associated with CREC, and he is “very grateful to Mr. Wilson for his many works and teachings.”
In May, Hegseth invited his private pastor, Brooks Potteiger, to the Pentagon to lead the first of several Christian prayer services Hegseth held in the government building during working hours. Defense Department employees and service members said they received invitations to the event in government emails.
“I want to see this country as a Christian country, I want to see the world as a Christian world,” Wilson said in a CNN report.
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Mike Pesoli, an AP reporter in Washington, and Ali Swenson of New York, contributed to the report.
