Pete Hegseth Hired a Christian Nationalist Lackey to Help Realize His Dream of an American Holy War

3 min readSecretary of Talking About War Pete Hegseth certainly has some interesting hiring practices, especially in his clumsy crusade to remake the U.S. military into ... a crusade. From CNN:“We are placing spiritual health at the same level as physical health,” Hegseth said in his speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico in September. “Our department is, you might say, is putting on the full armor of God. Because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual. God is good. Evil is not. America’s military must understand the difference.”Well, Deus Volt to you, too, sparky. Anyway, in pursuit of the 11th century, Hegseth brought this guy onto the public payroll.Ryan Higgins has become a key aide to Hegseth since joining the Pentagon, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN, particularly in shaping the defense secretary’s embrace of Christian nationalist themes in speeches and public appearances. On his social media platforms, CNN found Higgins defended a video President Donald Trump shared depicting the Obamas as apes, said same-sex marriage was “abominable,” and speculated about how many abortions former Vice President Kamala Harris might have had, citing her age and claiming she had a “long record of sleeping around.”How very Christian of him, considering Higgins is Hegseth's "senior adviser or religious issues."He’s also asserted that the “separation of Church and State does not exist” and has posted extreme rhetoric about immigrants. “They act like barbarians, killing and raping our white women,” he wrote in one post responding to tabloid coverage of sexual crimes allegedly committed by immigrants in Europe.While many of the posts were made in his previous role as a conservative activist, Higgins has also continued sharing far-right views since joining the administration, including railing against “the satanic cult of LGBTQ,” criticizing gay adoption as “buying babies,” and calling abortion “Demonic human sacrifice packaged as ‘women’s healthcare.’”This guy's hiring is pure Hegseth. Higgins has an impeccable wing-nut CV going back to working for Dr. Ben Carson during that worthy's quixotic presidential run. That put him on the fast track.During the pandemic, Higgins helped organize efforts opposing restrictions on churches and worked with conservative activist Charlie Kirk. He went on to serve in a senior faith-outreach role for Trump. He joined the Pentagon as a senior adviser for faith matters, a role that had not existed in recent years. Hegseth has made his religious views a staple of his office and public engagement. The defense secretary began hosting monthly Christian worship services inside the Pentagon, inviting speakers including Doug Wilson, a pastor who has said he supports the repeal of women’s right to vote and that homosexuality should be criminalized. In February, Higgins thanked Wilson for encouraging “our amazing Pentagon family.”In January, referring to a Daily Mail article about crimes allegedly committed in Europe by immigrants from Muslim nations, he wrote: “Violent illegal immigrants and even many ‘asylum seekers’ are destroying the entire planet… They act like barbarians, killing and raping our white women.” In February, he posted about a separate story on the topic: “Absolute animals… These people many times come from barbaric cultures which has no place in the western world.” In April, he queried about the UK, “How long until the monarchy is dethroned by Muslims?” Previously, in 2025, he mocked King Charles for recognizing Muslims’ contributions to British society, later writing, “Islam teaches death to all who do not comply.” He also posted the U.S. must admit only those who “love our nation and wish to ASSIMILATE to OUR culture.” By contrast, Higgins has often argued Christians are being persecuted and victimized.Of course he does. That's the second commandment of Wingnut Religion: Thou Shalt Poor Mouth Thy Power.In March, he asked, “Why are Christians always the only ones punished for their beliefs?”Your tax dollars at work.