Last night, during Donald Trump‘s special dinner for conservative Christians, he quoted a prayer written by President John Adams that, in 1945, was carved into the State Dining Room’s fireplace mantle.

Well, he quoted part of it.

You can hear it at the 8:20 mark:

… Here in the State Dining Room, carved into this fireplace, is the famous prayer of John Adams. It says, “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house.” And that’s really what it is. This is an incredible house. Means so much. Means so much to our country. Means so much to the world. And it means, really, so much to religion and to Christians. So it’s an honor to have you. Together, we will uplift our nation in prayer, defend the sanctity of life, and forever proudly remain one nation under God.

That’s not what the quotation says. At least not all of what it says.

As you can see, the full Adams quote goes like this:

I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.

Naturally, Trump chose not to read the line about “honest” and “wise” men ruling in the White House…

Maybe he didn’t want to hear the crowd erupt in laughter.

Oh, who am I kidding? The people who spread lies for a living probably would’ve nodded in appreciation and given him a standing ovation. There’s nothing Trump could do that would shake their faith in him. It doesn’t matter how many families he breaks apart, or how many affairs he tries to hide, or how many opportunities to do the right thing he passes up in order to go golfing. As long as he appoints the conservative judges they want, everything else can slide. He’s not honest or wise, and the people who claim to be the moral arbiters of the nation don’t give a damn because they already made a deal with the devil.

(via USA Today. Thanks to Brian for the link)

