Hegseth goes viral for 'Pulp Fiction' prayer at the Pentagon

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth faced some criticism after reciting a prayer that closely resembled a fake biblical passage from the film "Pulp Fiction" during a worship service at the Pentagon.

Hegseth was touting the successful combat search and rescue mission of a downed pilot in Iran when he asked the audience to join him in a prayer he said was given to him by the lead planner of the mission.

'I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother.'

"This prayer was recited by Sandy 1, which is one of the Sandies, to all Sandies, all those A-10 crews, prior to all CSAR missions, but especially this CSAR mission that happened in real time. ... They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17," Hegseth said.

The prayer he recited seemingly paraphrased a line from "Pulp Fiction."

"The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men," Hegseth prayed. "Blessed is he who, in the name of camaraderie and duty, shepherd the lost 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 capture and destroy my brother. And you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

The passage is very popular among movie aficionados and fans of director Quentin Tarantino. However, Tarantino also swiped the fake scripture verse from a Japanese martial arts movie from the 1970s.

Video of Hegseth's prayer was posted to social media, where it garnered more than 16 million views after only several hours.

Critics of Hegseth assumed that he was ignorantly portraying the fake verse as real scripture, but that is unclear from the video.

"Hegseth is mad because America caught him claiming he was quoting the Bible when in fact he was quoting the Quentin Tarantino script from Pulp Fiction," anti-Trump commentator Keith Olbermann responded.

RELATED: MS Now host implodes over Pete Hegseth saying, 'We leave no man behind,' after pilot rescue

Hegseth appeared to respond to the critics in a statement during a media briefing Thursday.

"I just can't help but notice the endless stream of garbage — the relentlessly negative coverage you cannot resist peddling, despite the historic and important success of this effort and the success of our troops," he said.

"Sometimes it's hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on. It's incredibly unpatriotic," Hegseth added.

He went on to compare some of the press to the Pharisees who persecuted Jesus Christ.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!