Did Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth share a video in which pastors said women should not be allowed to vote? Yes, that's true: Hegseth shared a link to a CNN report that interviewed leaders of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, which his own church is a part of. One pastor said he supports the repeal of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution that gave women the right to vote and another said each family should have just one vote, which would be cast by the husband.
Hegseth's post (archived here) was published on X on August 8, 2025, with a caption that read:
All of Christ for All of Life.
All of Christ for All of Life. https://t.co/QqXhqZFStv
-- Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) August 8, 2025
The CNN video report (archived here) is captioned:
Self-described Christian nationalist pastor Douglas Wilson is part of an ascendant group of Christian religious leaders finding influence among MAGA conservatives. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is Wilson's most prominent and public follower in the Trump administration. CNN's Pamela Brown reports from Moscow, Idaho, where Wilson's Christ Church is based.
Brown says in her narration that Pastor Wilson "says in his vision of a Christian society, women as individuals shouldn't be able to vote."
Brown then asks Wilson's fellow pastors Jared Longshore and Toby Sumpter about women voting:
Pastor Toby Sumpter: In my ideal society, we would vote as households, and I would ordinarily be the one that would cast the vote, but I would cast the vote having discussed it with my household.
CNN's Pamela Brown: But what if your wife doesn't want to vote for the same person as you?
Pastor Sumpter: Well, then that's a great opportunity for a good discussion.
Brown: There are some who have gone so far as to say that they want the 19th Amendment repealed.
Pastor Jared Longshore: I would support that, and I supported on the basis that the atomization that comes with our current system is not good for humans.
Hegseth and his family are members of the Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, which is part of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (archived here), which was co-founded by Wilson.
