A quote attributed to President Donald Trump in which he called himself an “atheist” and proclaimed that being a nonbeliever has given him “an edge in every deal” has been circulating since at least May 2017.
But there’s a big problem: the quote isn’t real.
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Billed as being taken from Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal,” the quote in question reads: “Being an atheist gives me an edge in every deal. Christians are too moral for business.”
Yep. The "Christian" "Republican."#nationaldayofprayer pic.twitter.com/6Th6ncrkiz
— The Fourth Stooge (@TheFourthStooge) May 4, 2017
Fact-checking website Snopes searched digital copies of the book and found no such quote, nor did the word “atheist” appear in the text.
The site also noted that this isn’t the first time Trump has been accused of being an atheist, with the same rumor raging throughout the 2016 campaign.
A meme claimed that Trump had appeared on “The Phil Donahue Show” in 1989. Trump is quoted as saying, “I have a really high I.Q. Phil, mean c’mon. It’s impossible for me to not be atheist.”
Snopes found that that, too, was a fake quote.
It’s no secret that critics have questioned the authenticity of Trump’s Christian faith, but these claims that he’s called himself an atheist simply don’t check out.