CNN anchor Jake Tapper left Roy Moore spokesman Ted Crockett utterly speechless on Tuesday during an incredibly awkward on-air exchange over Moore’s past comments about Muslims serving in congress.
When Tapper asked Crockett why Moore said Muslims essentially can’t serve in Congress, Crockett said it’s “because you have to swear on the Bible … to be an elected official in the United States of America.”
Tapper, who seemed perplexed, responded by noting that U.S. law doesn’t require incoming politicians to specifically swear on Christian Bibles, explaining that people can, in fact, choose whichever text they’d like.
“You don’t actually have to swear on a Christian Bible,” Tapper said. “You can swear on anything, really. I don’t know if you knew that.”
Crockett pushed back and Tapper again noted that the law doesn’t force people to swear on the Bible.
What followed are at least five seconds of silence and awkward blinking. Watch it all unfold below:
Roy Moore campaign spokesman responds with silence when asked if he knew people can be sworn in with a text other than the Christian Bible https://t.co/DhBDWkbIaz pic.twitter.com/OX5CmSxl5O
— CNN (@CNN) December 12, 2017
Don’t believe Tapper? Here’s what Article VI of the Constitution has to say on the matter: “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
So, there you have it.