Tuesday Afternoon, September 8, 2026

HOLY HEGSETH’S X POST ATTACKING MRFF 

CLOSING IN ON HALF A MILLION VIEWS —

COVERED BY ALBUQUERQUE NBC AFFILIATE,

THE DAILY BEAST, AND THE INDEPENDENT

“His brave defense of Christian values comes a few days after he publicly mocked a Canadian teenager’s physical appearance, and while his top officials at the Pentagon were reportedly busy administering dozens of polygraph tests to smoke out leakers speaking to the press about worrying developments with his handling of operations in Iran.”

— The Daily Beast

ALBUQUERQUE NBC AFFILIATE KOB 4

COVERS MRFF

By: Blake Troli | KOB

Monday, September 7, 2026

THE DAILY BEAST

COVERS MRFF

Pentagon Pete Starts Petty New Fight as More Deployed Troops Are Hurt

By: Allison Quinn

Saturday, September 5, 2026

Article excerpt:

“‘For multiple days over the last couple of weeks, the guards have been greeting me with ‘God bless you’ every single morning as I come through. Not once, not twice… repeatedly, consistently, as if it’s an officially sanctioned script,’ the group quoted one complainant as saying.

“After MRFF reported that it had intervened to ask officials at the base to stop violating ‘the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion,’ Hegseth threw a public tantrum.”

THE INDEPENDENT

COVERS MRFF

The three-word greeting at center of 34 complaints at Air Force base

By: Rachel Dobkin

Sunday, September 6, 2026

Article summary from the Independent:

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed that the Pentagon will “never cave” to a nonprofit group seeking to halt religious greetings by guards at New Mexico's Kirtland Air Force Base.

• The Military Religious Freedom Foundation recently intervened to stop gate guards from greeting visitors with “God bless you” following 34 complaints from service members.

• Hegseth criticized the nonprofit on social media, calling it a “radical anti-Christian, pro-atheist group” and promising to protect the airmen.

• Nonprofit President Mikey Weinstein dismissed Hegseth's statement with “Tell it to the judge” and threatened legal action, including a libel lawsuit against Hegseth.

• Air Force regulations require military leaders to balance religious freedom with constitutional protections against government establishment of religion.

MRFF’s Mikey Weinstein Responds to “Little Petey”

Friday, September 4, 2026

The Military.com story that made the Secretary of Holy War take a break from bombing stuff to attack MRFF

MILITARY.COM

COVERS MRFF

Air Force Base’s Religious Greetings Cease After Complaints From 34 Airmen

By: Nick Mordowanec

Thursday, September 3, 2026

Article excerpts:

A U.S. Air Force base has ceased extending religious greetings at its gates to uniformed members following the reported intervention of an anti-discrimination organization.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), which has more than 100,000 members including both active-duty and veteran service members from different services and myriad ranks, said Thursday that it intervened following nearly three dozen received complaints about religious-oriented greetings at Kirtland Air Force Base’s front gates.

MRFF said in a Sept. 3 press release that it ultimately received 34 complaints dating back days and even weeks, including from 24 individuals who identify as Christian. Officials at the gates were continually offering greetings including “God bless you” or “Have a blessed day,” as part of what MRFF described as a “weeks-long blitz” played to the backdrop of a Defense Department that has been accused of pushing a Christian agenda to its men and women in uniform.

[…]

“It’s now 1400, and I have gone through the same gate a couple times without hearing the religious greeting,” the Airman said. “After dealing with it repeatedly for weeks, seeing that change happen within hours is honestly incredible.”

Air Force Instruction (AFI) 1-1, Section 2.16, Balance of Free Exercise of Religion and Establishment Clause

Leaders at all levels must balance constitutional protections for free exercise of religion and the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion. They must ensure their words and actions do not discriminate against any individual or group because of their faith, belief, or absence of belief, or extend preferential treatment for the same. ... (emphasis added)

“Congratulations, I guess!”

From: (Name withheld)

Date: September 7, 2026 at 12:13:28 PM MDT

To: Mikey Weinstein <mikeyw4444@gmail.com>

Subject: Congratulations, I guess!

You have reached prominence in the personal target list of Pentagon Pete (Pete Hellshith). I wish you the best. By the way, have you perchance encountered the book “Anti-Atheist Nation – Religion and Secularism in the United States” by Petra Klug?

Peace

(Name withheld)

“Kirtland Air Force Base”

From: (Name withheld)

Date: September 4, 2026 at 10:50:35 AM MDT

To: mikey@militaryreligiousfreedom.org

Subject: Kirtland Air Force Base

Good morning,

I have been in the Marine Corps for 20 years. I’ve had greetings from probably thousands of gate guards by now. I have never once heard of anyone being offended when those gate guards, who stand in the wind and sun and snow every day, are still courteous and happy and say have a blessed day or God bless you. Based on the below quote, I think you are a bad person and your organization is a rotten one. You’re “protecting religious freedoms” by attacking the freedom of speech of those that protect us every day. I would be curious what you think the purpose the founding fathers had when talking about protecting religious freedom. I hope you have a blessed day. 

“The Military Religious Freedom Foundation salutes its 34 Kirtland Air Force Base clients—24 of them practicing Christians—for having the guts to stand up to fight the illicit, immoral and unethical fundamentalist Christian ‘greetings’ being spewed forth by armed, uniformed U.S. Air Force security forces at the various gates of entry to this installation,” Weinstein told Military.com.

God bless, 

(Name withheld)

To see response from MRFF Board Member John Compere:

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