pete hegseth tatted crusader
The SecDef Tattoos
That is a “Deus Vult” tattoo on the arm of the current Secretary of Defense/War Pete Hegseth’s arm.
That? is the Jerusalem Cross tattoo’ed on the Secretary of Defense/War. You can also see an assault rifle and the word “kafir”1 tattoo’ed on his body.
I have tattoos. They mean a lot to me. I plan to get others that are either just aesthetically pleasing or have some sort of deeper meaning. Generally speaking, when one makes a permanent decision to put a fairly large icon on their body with a political meaning, the beliefs represented therein are pretty meaningful for that person. I don’t have a hammer and sickle tattoo’ed on my body because that political belief system isn’t exactly important to me. Most people don’t get an elephant or a donkey tattoo’ed on them to represent the GOP or DNC, that would be kind of weird. I think it’s fair to say that when you tattoo iconography representing some political belief system on your body, you believe fairly strongly in it.
So, what can we infer from the iconography that Pete Hegseth has tattoo’ed on his body?
The rifle
The assault rifle has become an icon representing American freedom for a very specific set of people.
Oddly enough, I didn’t hear Pete Hegseth speak up after Alex Pretti was executed after being disarmed while carrying a legally owned and carried firearm filming police. He spoke after Pretti was killed, but only to praise ICE. So, assuming he has a coherent ideological framework (which is probably an assumption that is not entirely accurate) we have to assume he tattoo’ed a silhouette of an assault rifle for another reason.
Signaling? Very possible. This is a video from late February of Pete Hegseth bench pressing what he would really like us to believe is 315 pounds. There are plenty of disputes on the veracity of the lift, but he really wants you to believe it is real. Pete did this plenty on Fox News, including an incident where he messed up a live axe throw so bad he hit a man behind the target. The slicked back hair, the constant requirement that he talks about pronouns, wokeness and Real Man Shit behind the podium. Pete Hegseth is a constant peacock.
He wants you to believe that he’s a warfighter, despite his military career being fairly unremarkable and mostly resigned to desk jobs outside of the line of fire that he is very willing to put other servicemembers in.2
I presented the rifle tattoo as the first example, because I personally believe it probably is a tattoo meant to signal more than make any other kind of political statement. I believe there is some semblance of signaling in the other tattoos, but instead of signalling being a BIG STRONG MAAAAAN, we should probably worry about what Hegseth is trying to signal, and to what people group he is trying to signal.
Deus Vult and the Jerusalem Cross
Deus Vult is a phrase with a complex past. I will lead with the lest controversial: Deus Vult translates to “God wills it"" in Latin, and is often, in religious contexts, referring to the divine will of God. It was first notably used in the First Crusade by the crusaders of Prince Bohemond I of Antioch. The implication was that the war they were embarking on was the will of God, and that they were carrying out the divine will.
You can fairly easily note where the modern usage can be a bit… controversial.
Modern white nationalists take the view of the crusades as a war for a superior white race, one willed by God. The return of the Holy Land to white Christians of the crusades is, in many of their view, roughly akin to returning the Middle East in its entirety to the Jews, European Christians, etc. White nationalists have notably taken on crusader iconography like Deus Vult and Knights Templar to represent their modern crusade against Muslims, various identity groups, the left and whatever other boogeyman they so choose that day. It was present at the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally and was used by the Quebec City mosque shooter in 2017 and the 2023 Allen, Texas mall shooting in 2023.
The Jerusalem Cross is also iconography from the times of the crusaders in the 12th and 13th century. It’s a common tattoo, being honest, but paired with the Deus Vult, the assault rifle and the man himself…
Why does Pete Hegseth care about the Crusades?
The most innocent reading of this is that he’s a man of history. That is an incredibly generous read, but if that’s the case, why specifically pick the slogan used by crusaders and an emblem used by crusaders? Why not Paul Revere’s lantern? Why not raising the flag at Iwo Jima? Why not Greek Pillars, a picture of Marcus Aurelius’ face? These are all fairly common or kinda neat sounding tattoos if you don’t have a specific interest in the crusades.
Maybe he is just really specifically into the crusades! Let’s take a look at the Google search “pete hegseth crusade history”…
… oh.
From the description:
“Join the political and cultural fight for America’s freedom—and learn how to protect our nation from the leftist agenda—with this essential guide from Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth. In American Crusade, Pete Hegseth explores whether the election of President Donald J. Trump was sign of a national rebirth, or instead the final act of a nation that has surrendered to Leftists who demand socialism, globalism, secularism, and politically-correct elitism. Can real America still win? And how? Hegseth is an old-school patriot who is on a mission to do his part to save our Republic. This book celebrates all that America stands for, while motivating and mustering fellow patriots to stand ready to defend—and save—our great country. As he travels around the country talking to American citizens from all walks of life, Hegseth reveals the common wisdom of average Americans—and how ready they are to join the cultural battlefield. Now is that time, and Hegseth has written the playbook. American Crusade is written with the same insight, politically incorrect candor, and humor that has made his television show one of the most highly-rated in America.”
I really do not want to read this. Especially since the top reviews are… Mark Levin, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
Footnotes
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the arabic word for a disbeliever in Islam ↩
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I am not a veteran. I have family that served, and many of them have very aggressive, negative opinions on Hegseth. I won’t speak for them, but I will note there are several questions about his service in the military that sign a fairly negative light on it. This thread on Reddit highlights a lot of them, but TL;DR: he mostly worked desk positions and the more “doorkicker” positions he did have did not have any records of combat and he seemed to be in those positions without the normal requisite training before he was again kicked back to desk jobs. Normally when someone is kicked back to Civil Affairs or instructor work, it means they washed out of the higher prestige positions. Again, not a vet, never served, so can’t speak on that other than to say many people who have served have their doubts about his service record. ↩