Sen Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is under fire for a Fourth of July tweet that managed to include both a false claim and a false quote.
Hawley tweeted a quote he claimed to be from Founding Father Patrick Henry saying the United States was founded “on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Just one problem: Henry ― a slave owner perhaps best remembered for his “give me liberty or give me death” quote ― never said it.
Hawley tweeted:
Patrick Henry: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity,…
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 4, 2023
The United States was not founded as a Christian nation ― the First Amendment makes that clear ― and Henry, while deeply religious, didn’t say anything of the sort.
Nor did any of the other Founding Fathers.
The quote is actually from a 1956 magazine article that discussed Henry’s faith.
Hawley, a self-appointed expert in manliness who saluted the Jan. 6 mob with a fist pump only to flee those same rioters hours later, was called out on Twitter:
You will be unsurprised to hear that Patrick Henry never said this. It comes from a 1956 article in a magazine called The Virginian. But what's a fake quote between friends? https://t.co/PZCEhfNlqW
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) July 5, 2023
Patrick Henry: "If you put fake quotes in my mouth after I die, I'm going to come back as a ghost and poltergeist the shit out of you." https://t.co/NYdHMHCjRQ
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) July 5, 2023
What’s it like to know that every time you open your mouth
— Adam Cohen Lawyers for Good Government #DemCast (@axidentaliberal) July 5, 2023
The people who conferred degrees on you at Stanford and Yale
Must be cringing at the vacuousness that spews from your lips https://t.co/dJEAzD8ZYp pic.twitter.com/eZ0E2oEC7N
"As one of the largest Founding Fathers, I wish Josh Hawley would stop using fake quotes" — Abraham Lincoln https://t.co/rmsAq1UV3q
— 🦀 Jon Schwarz 🦀 (@schwarz) July 5, 2023
Counterpoint: Patrick Henry never said this. Hawley remains a towering simpleton https://t.co/QFCHQMdjfr
— Snooze (@BigSnooze) July 5, 2023
Chicken Little here is once again proving money can’t buy intelligence. https://t.co/J0HnapicSi pic.twitter.com/T88hndqkZl
— KimmyAnne (@mommadukes10704) July 5, 2023
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