
The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has drawn attention for his ties to a former pastor, Joshua Haymes.
Haymes hosts a podcast that Hegseth has repeatedly promoted, likely due to Haymes being a pastoral intern at Hegseth’s church. He has recently expressed a number of extreme positions on his podcast and social media. His views include support for public executions, a belief that the Bible backs ICE raids, and an embrace of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory.