Donald Trump might be selling his “God bless the USA” Bible online, but not everyone is buying. “If I’m paying $90 for a Bible, I’m going to heaven,” comedian and host of CNN’s “Have I Got News for You” Roy Wood Jr. joked on a panel hosted by the network’s Abby Phillip. Though, to be fair, those Bibles are actually being sold for the slightly less significant $60 a piece.
Phillip agreed with Wood’s criticism of the expensive Trump-backed Bibles. “Look, a regular Bible will set you back five bucks, 10 bucks. Maybe 20,” before panelist Maria Cardona interjected, “Three actually, on Amazon.”
Oklahoma’s state superintendent Ryan Walters is attempting to buy 55,000 Bibles for public schools. Walters has specifically requested Bibles that contain the Declaration of Independence and U.S. constitution, two documents that are not typically in Bibles at all because Christianity is not only practiced by Americans — but those documents are in the Lee Greenwood Bible that Trump has endorsed.
The Oklahoma school superintendent also requested that the Bibles are the King James Version and contain the Old and New Testaments, as well as thethe Pledge of Allegiance and the Bill of Rights. Again, all items that happen to be contained in the nonstandard Trump Bible.
The effort is part of Walters’ larger goal to have a Bible in every classroom in Oklahoma. It would cost the state $3.3 million. Dan Isett, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma state department of education, denied that the request is an attempt to specifically buy the Trump-endorsed Bible and contribute to the Trump campaign. “There are hundreds of Bible publishers and we expect a robust competition for this proposal,” Isett said in a statement.
Political concerns aside, Wood had a suggestion for where people could find Bibles for significantly less money. “Trump has a right to sell the Bibles. Fine, sell the Bibles, but don’t tell me that this is a good idea by the state to do. And if you want to do it, then buy the $5 Bible, buy the used Bible, go to the Motel 6 [and] steal the Bibles out the drawers — steal the Bibles.”
Panelist Erin Perrine, a Republican herself, explained the larger problems facing Oklahoma students. “Oklahoma students are struggling so much with math and reading and writing right now, as are lots of students across the United States, because of being left behind because of the pandemic and limited resources and education at this point.”
“The idea that we are now mandating the Bible be taught in school — darn the separation of church and state. I am a Republican, and I own a Bible. I can tell you, this is not going on the right track,” she continued.
“When I first heard this, I thought, OK, he’s trying to make a move to get this to the Supreme Court,” she added. “He’s going to try and litigate this and make this a big case, but now that I’m seeing this Bible play on it, not only did I not like it in the first place — because we’re not teaching our students how to be competitive in the global economy.”
She noted all the areas that education is lacking for these students before adding, “I don’t like any of it. Teach kids what they need to know to succeed in America.”
Because Trump’s Bible appears to be the only one that meets all of the requirements, former Oklahoma attorney general Drew Edmondson told the Guardian that Walters’ request might be voided in court if it’s found that it limits competition among Bible makers.
In August, financial disclosures filed by Trump indicated he had made $300,000 off the Bibles in question.
You can watch the full conversation from CNN in the video above.
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