During his visit to Liberty University this week, Donald Trump reached out to the evangelical crowd by bungling a Bible verse. Instead of referring to the verse as coming from “Second Corinthians,” as its commonly pronounced, Trump actually said the number 2. And got mocked like hell for it by the media.
Yesterday, Trump went on the defensive, blaming Christian Right leader Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council for leading him astray:
… Tony Perkins wrote that out for me. ‘Cause Tony thought it would be great. He knew I was going to Liberty. He has a great respect for Liberty. And Tony Perkins is a very, very good guy. And he actually wrote out “2.” He wrote out the number “2 Corinthians,” which I could show you very nicely, if you’d like, and I called Tony and he said, “No, well I meant ‘Second,'” but he wrote out the letter “2”…
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Perkins didn’t do anything wrong. The verse is, in fact, written as “2 Corinthians.”
Perkins must have fallen for the myth that Trump actually reads and is familiar with the Bible. If it wasn’t apparent before, it should be now. Trump only cites the Bible as a way to win over gullible religious voters. It’s not like he sits down and reads it.
But now I just have more questions…
Why is Tony Perkins giving Trump advice?
Why did Trump, the man who said “Nothing beats the Bible,” need Perkins to write out Bible verses for him in advance of his speech?
Did Trump seriously call it “the letter 2”?
Even professional liar Todd Starnes got this one right:
Ugh. I can’t believe I just wrote that. I need to take a shower now.
About Hemant Mehta
I’m on the Interwebs.