Ron DeSantis (R) aides reportedly had to order a Bible on Amazon ahead of his first swearing-in ceremony as governor of Florida in 2019, because he did not own one himself.
Former aides to DeSantis, who is Catholic, told NBC News that they were caught off guard days before his inauguration when he revealed that his family did not own a Bible and didn’t seem to care that he did not have one to be sworn into office on.
“People are typically sworn in on something that is historic — a family Bible or something with historic value,” a former DeSantis staffer said. “It was profoundly strange that he did not care at all and treated it like it was nothing.”
DeSantis’ admission led to his aides quickly purchasing a Bible for $21.74 on Amazon and shipped it to the headquarters of the Republican Party of Florida so it could arrive in time for his inauguration days later, according to a receipt of the transaction obtained by NBC News.
The DeSantis campaign, that has been heavily courting evangelical voters in Iowa, slammed the NBC report calling it “a pathetic lie worthy only of a tabloid gossip rag,” and called the reporter a “reliable surrogate” for the Trump campaign.
“The blatant dishonesty here is a transparent ploy for nefarious motives — like boosting this author’s lagging book interest,” DeSantis campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin said. “[Matt] Dixon has become one of the Trump campaign’s most loyal and reliable surrogates, hopefully he is at least being rewarded appropriately.”
