Trump does not put his hand on the Bible during his inauguration

President Trump He broke tradition Monday when he did not place his hand on the Bible while taking the oath of office during his second inauguration.

Chief Justice John Roberts took the oath of office and told Trump, who was walking toward him, to raise his right hand and repeat the words he was about to say.

Trump then raised his right hand, and as Roberts said, “I, Donald John Trump,” first lady Melania Trump was seen approaching with a stack of Bibles.

Instead of placing his left hand on the Bibles, he kept it at his side and continued taking the oath as his family filed behind him.

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Melania Trump held two Bibles: one was Lincoln’s Bible and the other was her husband’s personal Bible that his mother gave him when he was a child. Trump placed his hand on both Bibles when he was sworn in in 2017.

Trump’s team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on why the president did not put his hand on the Bibles.

Vice President JD Vance placed his hand on the Bible as he took the oath of office.

Some people on social media say Roberts rushed into taking the oath of office, while others seemed incredulous that Trump didn’t put his hand on Bibles, which is a tradition that dates back to President George Washington’s first inauguration.

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While it is traditional for the incoming president to place a hand on the Bible while taking the oath of office, there is nothing in the United States Constitution that requires him to do so.

In fact, presidents “shall be bound by oath or affirmation,” according to Article VI of the Constitution. The same article states: “…no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for any public office or trust in the United States.”

Article II of the Constitution It also says that the president must take an oath before taking office, although it does not mention religion.

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The Constitution sets out the exact language to be used in the 34-word oath: “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will do to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” USA.”

Many judges have added four little words: “God help me.” It is not a legal or constitutional requirement, unlike other federal oaths that invoke these words as standard procedure. Historians have disagreed about whether President Washington set a precedent by adding the phrase on his own during his first acceptance, but contemporary accounts make no mention of such improvisation.

Abraham Lincoln is said to have said it spontaneously in 1861, and other presidents have followed his example over the years. Traditionally a Bible is used, with the president placing one hand on it while raising the other during the oath of office.

The Constitution also does not require the president, members of Congress, or federal judges to take an oath before a Supreme Court justice, although most of the time they do so only for inaugurations.

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When Washington was first sworn in in 1789, the Supreme Court It had not yet been formed, so New York’s highest-ranking judge did the honors in Federal Hall on Wall Street.

Four years later, Associate Justice William Cushing was sworn in in Washington for a second term, beginning the Supreme Court tradition.

Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.