Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week Jordan Klepper closed out the week on Thursday with an intellectually lazy attack on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. During Hegseth’s Wednesday State of the Force address, Hegseth quoted the Bible on multiple occasions, but instead of giving context to the specific passages, Klepper tried to paint Hegseth as a hypocrite because he previously said the Iranian regime was run by “religious fanatics.”
After playing the “No fatties. No trannies. No beardos. No weirdos. No wimps. No radicals,” line from Hegseth’s speech, Klepper lamented, “I will say this kind of rhetoric is unacceptable from our Defense Secretary. Every American, no matter who they are or what they look like, should have the chance to fight a Middle Eastern country for no clear reason. That's the American way!”
Teeing up a 60 Minutes clip from March, Klepper added, “But Hegseth really believes we need a more macho, aggressive military because, as he's told us before, our enemies in Iran are uniquely evil.”
In the clip, Hegeth was shown quickly declaring, “Obviously, we're fighting religious fanatics.”
Thinking he had discovered some great gotcha moment, Klepper then cued up another clip from Wednesday, “Of course. Of course. We are in a fight against religious fanaticism. And how are we going to defeat these religious fanatics?”
Hegseth was then shown citing several Bible verses in a jump-cut heavy montage, “Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God… The sixth chapter of the book of Isaiah. "Lord, here I am, send me." … As the Psalmists put it, the Lord is on my side… As Psalm 33:12 extols us—”
Klepper reacted by retorting, “Yes, yes, yes, we know Psalm 33:12. ‘No fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, amen.' We know. We have all read the Bible. We get it.”
That is an odd thing to say given the verses Klepper chose to include in his montage. When Hegseth was talking about the full armor of God, he was talking about how “God is good. Evil is not. America's military must understand the difference.” When he was referencing Isaiah, he was talking about how those in the military have stepped up to serve. When he was talking about how “the Lord is on my side,” he was specifically addressing chaplains. When Hegseth was invoking Psalm 33:12, he recalled how George Washington and the Continental Army “appealed to Heaven, and we still do today.”
Nothing in Klepper’s Hegseth clip montage came anywhere close to suggesting the level of fanaticism that characterizes the Iranian regime, but for The Daily Show, religion is only beneficial when it can be twisted to meet liberal ends.
Here is a transcript for the October 1 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
10/1/2026
11:04 PM ET
JORDAN KLEPPER: I will say this kind of rhetoric is unacceptable from our Defense Secretary. Every American, no matter who they are or what they look like, should have the chance to fight a Middle Eastern country for no clear reason. That's the American way! Not to mention—you know what, not to mention, it probably would help if our military had at least a few beardos and weirdos, right? What if Iran challenges us to Dungeons and Dragons? We need at least one druid in the party! Huzzah! But Hegseth really believes we need a more macho, aggressive military because, as he's told us before, our enemies in Iran are uniquely evil.
PETE HEGSETH [3/8]: Obviously, we're fighting religious fanatics.
KLEPPER: Of course. Of course. We are in a fight against religious fanaticism. And how are we going to defeat these religious fanatics?
HEGSETH [9/30] Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God. [jump cut] The sixth chapter of the book of Isaiah. "Lord, here I am, send me." [jump cut] As the Psalmists put it, the Lord is on my side. [jump cut] As Psalm 33:12 extols us –
KLEPPER: Yes, yes, yes, we know Psalm 33:12. "No fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, amen." We know. We have all read the Bible. We get it.
