OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma has amended its request for 55,000 Bibles to be placed in public schools that initially matched a version of the holy book endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
The request was amended Monday and no longer requires the Bibles to include U.S. historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution — requirements that match the “God Bless the USA Bible” that Trump endorsed this year and that are several times more expensive than similar Bibles that don’t include the U.S. documents.
The new request says the historical documents may be included together or separately and extends the deadline for offers to supply the items by one week, from Oct. 14 to Oct. 21.
The request is part of State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ efforts to require Bibles in public school classrooms, which has been met with resistance by some of Oklahoma’s largest school districts.
Walters, in a Monday video on X, said the Bible will be used “because of its historical significance throughout this nation’s history,” blaming what he called the “fake news media” for lies about the program.
“The left-wing media hates Donald Trump so much, and they hate the Bible so much, they will lie and go to any means necessary to stop this initiative from happening,” Walters said.
The department said in a statement that the changes to the “request for proposal,” or RFP, were suggested by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, which issues the requests and were agreed to by Walters.
“Unfortunately, there have been false reports that have been repeated by numerous, supposedly credible, news organizations that the state’s RFP was catered to one specific organization,” the statement said, noting that tailoring the request so that only one manufacturer’s Bible would qualify would be illegal.
Christa Helfrey, a spokesperson for OMES, said the changes were made to the request to try to save taxpayer money.
“OMES worked with OSDE to amend the solicitation to provide the listed resources at a much better value to Oklahomans,” Helfrey said.
The initial request included requirements that are not commonly found in Bibles but are included in the “God Bless the USA Bible,” which Trump urged his supporters to begin buying earlier this year at a website that sells the book for $59.99.
The Bibles must be bound in “leather or leather-like material for durability,” according to the initial request.
Similar Bibles that don’t include the Declaration of Independence or Constitution are available online for less than $20.
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This story was first published on Oct. 8, 2024. It was updated on Oct. 10, 2024, to correct the attribution for details about changes to the purchasing proposal and a quote beginning, “Unfortunately, there have been false reports…” to the Oklahoma Department of Education, rather than spokesperson Dan Isett. The original story also misspelled Dan Isett’s last name as Issett.
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