Pastor at Trump nominee Pete Hegseth’s church says 'Christ was glorified' in beheading of satanic statue
A pastor who serves at a Tennessee church attended by Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth says “Christ was glorified” in the beheading of a satanic statue in the Iowa state Capitol.
Joshua Haymes, a pastoral intern at Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship located north of Nashville, hosted an episode of the "Reformation Red Pill" podcast with Michael Cassidy, the 36-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who faced a felony charge in January after pushing over the Baphomet statue erected near a Nativity scene and tossing its ram's head in the garbage.
Cassidy was to stand trial on June 3 and faced up to five years in jail if convicted of the hate crime. But in exchange for having the felony charge dropped, he agreed to plead guilty in May to a third-degree criminal mischief charge without the hate crime enhancement.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
For the Dec. 13 podcast, Haymes sat down with Cassidy and lawyer Caleb Byrd to hear more about Cassidy's motivation behind the act of vandalism.
Cassidy, who said he was motivated by a strong Christian conviction, saw the statue as a moral outrage and decided to take immediate action by traveling from Mississippi to Iowa to destroy the statue.
“I bought a plane ticket ... I flew up the next morning ... and so I beheaded it,” he said.
Haymes said he was “absolutely inspired” when Cassidy beheaded the satanic icon and “Christ was glorified.”
“After speaking with Michael and Caleb, I am convinced that we need 10,000 more Michael Cassidys and Caleb Byrds,” he said. “We need men of action; we need godly Christian men in law and politics and in every sphere of life.”
Haymes added, “Our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves. … Whenever they were thinking freedom of religion, they did not have in view Satan being worshiped.”
“They didn't have in view mosques being erected, [...] “They weren't afraid of the Church impacting the state, it was the very reverse. They were afraid of the state having too much power and authority over the Church.
In March, Haymes hosted an episode of "Reformation Red Pill" that featured Hegseth, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran and "Fox & Friends" weekend co-host who was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump last month to lead the Pentagon.
During that episode, Hegseth spoke candidly about his multiple marriages and infidelity, which he referred to as the “wreckage of my own life” and how those failures pointed him to the righteousness of God.
“When you really submit to the reality that God's law sets you free, because it is truth, right, all that it has made me want to do is understand that law, understand Him even better so that I can reflect that,” he said.
Hegseth and his family are also members of Pilgrim Hill, a small church in Ridgetop, Tennessee, which belongs to the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches denomination founded by Pastor Doug Wilson.
Amid concerns that an alleged drinking habit might impact Hegseth's ability to serve as defense secretary, Trump has repeatedly voiced his support for Hegseth, saying he “is doing very well” and has “strong and deep” support from lawmakers.
Hegseth's fate ultimately remains with the U.S. Senate, which will be in Republican hands at the start of the 119th Congress in January. The Senate will consist of 53 Republican senators and 47 Democratic senators. In order to secure confirmation, he must receive the support of a simple majority of senators.
He can be confirmed with only Republican support, although he can afford no more than four defections from members of his own party, assuming all Democrats vote against him.
