JD Vance, the newly elected vice president of the US, on Saturday criticised news agency Associated Press (AP) for allegedly attacking Pete Hegseth, president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, over a Christian motto tattooed on his arm. Vance accused the agency of displaying “anti-Christian bigotry” in the matter.
Vance reacted to a post shared by AP Pentagon correspondent Tara Copp on the social media platform X, in which she said that Hegseth, a Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran, was flagged as a possible “insider threat” by a fellow service member due to his tattoo. Copp also shared a link to the AP report supporting the claim.
“Pete Hegseth, the Army National Guard veteran and Fox News host nominated by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Defense, was flagged as a possible ‘insider threat’ by a fellow service member due to a tattoo he has that’s associated with white supremacists,” Copp posted on X.

Reacting to Copp’s post, Vance called it “disgusting anti-Christian bigotry” from AP and said that the entire news organization should be “ashamed” of itself.
“They’re attacking Pete Hegseth for having a Christian motto tattooed on his arm. This is disgusting anti-Christian bigotry from the AP, and the entire organization should be ashamed of itself,” Vance wrote.

Pete Hegseth is facing criticism over a tattoo on his bicep that some claim is linked to a white supremacist group. The tattoo reads “Deus Vult,” a phrase historically associated with the Crusades and recently adopted by certain white nationalist groups.
Previously, in July, AP retracted an article that fact-checked claims alleging JD Vance had written about “having sex with a couch” in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.