A meme of sorts began circulating on Facebook just before Thanksgiving (a plot of preemptive derision by the “Angry Uncle Bot” no doubt) suggesting that because the recently elected congressional representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are Muslim, they cannot therefore be sworn in on the Bible and thus cannot “uphold our constitution due to their faith.”
The post continues by asserting “we are being destroyed within our own country. The Trojan horse has made it into our government.”
(TWS Fact Check would note that Omar and Tlaib have not hidden their faith and thus a “Trojan horse” comparison doesn’t quite match. Perhaps a rabbit?)
Putting aside the ill-conceived analogies, the assertion that one must be sworn in on the Bible to take up an elected position is utter bilge.
Let’s quickly take a peek at Article VI, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution:
To require Omar and Tlaib to swear on the Bible would clearly be to impose a “religious test” which, as Article VI, Clause 3 notes, is not allowed.
Furthermore, many elected officials in the past (including one Theodore Roosevelt) have either not been sworn in on the Bible or were sworn in using something else (e.g., the Constitution, a Kindle, or, in Keith Ellison’s case, the Quran). Nevertheless, this post was shared some 53,000 times.
If you have questions about this fact check, or would like to submit a request for another fact check, email Holmes Lybrand at [email protected] or the Weekly Standard at [email protected]. For details on TWS Fact Check, see our explainer here.
