O'Donnell Melts Down At Hegseth Invoking Jesus When Asking For Prayers For The Troops

Alex Christy
March 20th, 2026 1:39 PM

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MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell suffered a major meltdown as he kicked off Thursday’s episode of The Last Word by condemning Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s plea to Americans that they pray “on bended knee” for the troops “in the name of Jesus Christ.” In a fit of historic illiteracy, an overly solemn O’Donnell would use Hegseth’s plea to try to divide Americans based on religious beliefs.

First, O’Donnell tried to divide Protestants from Catholics by quoting Pope Leo, “On Sunday, the leader of the largest Christian denomination in the world said this: ‘On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all men and women of goodwill, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict. Cease the fire; reopen paths of dialogue. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that people are waiting for.’”

 

 

He then played a clip from Hegseth, “May almighty God continue to bless our troops in this fight. And again, to the American people, please pray for them every day, on bended knee with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Erasing Louis Johnson and Robert McNamara from the history books, O’Donnell claimed Hegseth is the most clueless Defense secretary ever while also trying to divide Christian Americans from non-Christian Americans, “In the name of Jesus Christ means that the misguided fanatic who is by far the most incompetent secretary of Defense in history does not want the prayers or good wishes or anything else from the 38 percent of Americans who are not Christian.”

He added, “Donald Trump's secretary of Defense does not want one Jewish prayer said in support of Donald Trump's war. Not one. He very obviously does not want a Muslim prayer spoken anywhere in the United States in support of Donald Trump's war on bended knee or not.”

President Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day public prayer referenced that the fight against the Nazis was an effort to save many things, including “our religion.” Does the fact that FDR used the singular noun mean that he was not welcoming of Jewish prayers on D-Day? No, of course not.

However, O’Donnell returned to the idea that Hegseth was trying to divide Christians by denomination, “And he does not want the prayer of Christians who are not literally on their knees. I used to kneel down for most of the prayers that we did when I was an altar boy in Catholic elementary school, but the priests didn't. Catholic priests who live an even more religious life than Pete Hegseth do most of their public praying, standing up, which is apparently unacceptable to the religiosity of Pete Hegseth. Pete Hegseth is the first Secretary of Defense in history who thinks he can define for Americans the proper way of praying. The proper way of praying for a war on bended knee in the name of Jesus Christ.”

 

 

After declaring one possible motive for Hegseth was to cover up his previous life of infidelity and drinking, O’Donnell proclaimed, “If you're taking your religious direction from Pete Hegseth, you are lost.”

He then expressed hope that the military isn’t listening to its civilian leader, “And we can only hope that the American military is not taking orders from Pete Hegseth. We can only hope that he is the fake figurehead at the Department of Defense, where the American military, in harm's way, are under the command of generals and admirals who ignore the rantings of Pete Hegseth and leave him to instruct the country on how to pray to win a war started by Donald Trump.”

He then returned to his efforts to divide Christian from non-Christian Americans, but this time, specifically within the administration, “Pete Hegseth doesn't want the prayers of the vice president's wife because she is not and never has been Christian, and Pete Hegseth doesn't want the prayers of two of the three officials who testified to the House Intelligence Committee today about the worldwide threat assessment because Donald Trump's FBI director and Donald Trump's director of national intelligence are not Christian. And so they will never join together to pray on bended knee in the name of Jesus Christ to win the war that they could not defend.”

There was nothing scandalous about Hegseth’s remarks. Only a pretentious MS NOW host trying to turn a molehill into a mountain. 

Here is a transcript for the March 19 show:

MS NOW The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

3/19/2026

10:01 PM ET

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: On Sunday, the leader of the largest Christian denomination in the world said this: “On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all men and women of goodwill, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict. Cease the fire; reopen paths of dialogue. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that people are waiting for.”

And today, the leader of no one who has the legal title of Secretary of Defense but fraudulently refers to himself as the Secretary of War, said this.

PETE HEGSETH: May almighty God continue to bless our troops in this fight. And again, to the American people, please pray for them every day, on bended knee with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ.

O’DONNELL: In the name of Jesus Christ means that the misguided fanatic who is by far the most incompetent secretary of Defense in history does not want the prayers or good wishes or anything else from the 38 percent of Americans who are not Christian.

Donald Trump's secretary of Defense does not want one Jewish prayer said in support of Donald Trump's war. Not one. He very obviously does not want a Muslim prayer spoken anywhere in the United States in support of Donald Trump's war on bended knee or not.

And he does not want the prayer of Christians who are not literally on their knees. I used to kneel down for most of the prayers that we did when I was an altar boy in Catholic elementary school, but the priests didn't. Catholic priests who live an even more religious life than Pete Hegseth do most of their public praying, standing up, which is apparently unacceptable to the religiosity of Pete Hegseth.

Pete Hegseth is the first Secretary of Defense in history who thinks he can define for Americans the proper way of praying. The proper way of praying for a war on bended knee in the name of Jesus Christ. 

There are some choices here. One is that Pete Hegseth doesn't mean any of it. Not a single word. He wouldn't be the first fraudulently public religious person.

It is possible that he uses excessive and false, and invented religiosity to cover for a life prior to this of infidelity in his previous marriages that have led him to his third marriage, and a pledge to stop what appeared to be his uncontrollable drinking so that he could be confirmed as Secretary of Defense. That's a possibility. If you're taking your religious direction from Pete Hegseth, you are lost. 

And we can only hope that the American military is not taking orders from Pete Hegseth. We can only hope that he is the fake figurehead at the Department of Defense, where the American military, in harm's way, are under the command of generals and admirals who ignore the rantings of Pete Hegseth and leave him to instruct the country on how to pray to win a war started by Donald Trump.

Pete Hegseth doesn't want the prayers of the vice president's wife because she is not and never has been Christian, and Pete Hegseth doesn't want the prayers of two of the three officials who testified to the House Intelligence Committee today about the worldwide threat assessment because Donald Trump's FBI director and Donald Trump's director of national intelligence are not Christian. And so they will never join together to pray on bended knee in the name of Jesus Christ to win the war that they could not defend.

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