‘They act like barbarians’: Hegseth’s faith guru exposed over anti-Muslim, homophobic rants

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in the midst of a religious crusade inside the Pentagon. He wants to turn the US military into a more Christian nationalist unit.

For that to happen, Hegseth has relied on his faith adviser, who has become quite influential and has been successful in helping steer the military into a more insular Christian ideology.

However, a new report shows his social media activity contains a lot of homophobic content, conspiracy theories, and downright racist posts.

A quiet crusade

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants a military shaped by conservative faith. Behind that goal sits Ryan Higgins, an influential adviser guiding the department’s religious outreach.

Higgins has long kept a low profile. Yet according to an investigation by CNN, he spent a decade sharing toxic and inflammatory messages across the internet.

CNN uncovered dozens of messages filled with conspiracy theories, hostile remarks about Islam, and extreme attacks on immigrants. In one post, Higgins declared that the “Separation of Church and State does not exist.” He also called same-sex marriage “abominable” and claimed that the LGBTQ+ communities was a “satanic cult.”

Another post claimed that all sexual crimes in Europe and the rest of the world were perpetrated by Muslims. “They act like barbarians, killing and raping our white women,” Higgins wrote.

The hard-right rhetoric did not stop once he entered the Pentagon. After taking the job, Higgins criticized gay adoption as “buying babies” and called abortion “demonic human sacrifice packaged as ‘women’s healthcare.'”

Multiple sources told CNN that his ideas and views on the world have directly influenced Hegseth’s public addresses and ideology.

Culture war friction

That influence is sparking a lot of internal backlash. Hegseth already faces pushback for sidelining experienced military leaders, including Black and female commanders, to make room for his cultural and religious crusade.

While several officials say Higgins plays a central role in policy, other Pentagon insiders downplay his personal sway.

Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell called Higgins a “valued member of the Secretary’s team” who “does an outstanding job serving as a senior adviser.”

Parnell declined to address the inflammatory posts directly. Instead, he maintained that Higgins remains focused on “the spiritual health of our troops and the historic establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs.”

Hegseth is unfazed

Hegseth himself seems to be unfazed by the internal criticism. During a recent address to service members at Quantico, Hegseth insisted that the armed forces are “putting on the full armor of God” to fight a spiritual war.

Whether an aide carrying such a racist and bigoted digital past can remain at the center of that mission remains to be seen.

After all, Hegseth’s spiritual adviser saw nothing wrong when Trump shared a video where Barack Obama was depicted as a monkey, writing, “I don’t understand why the Obama’s as monkeys is more racist that any of the others. Haters gonna hate.”

This article is made and published by Daniel Wolfram, who may have used AI in the preparation