Today, Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson used a spurious quote often attributed to James Madison to explain his support for Ted Cruz. Watch (see especially the segment starting at 1:30 into the clip)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcfKyvOb38I[/youtube]
There is no such Madison quote about America being based on self-governance according to the 10 commandments. Even Ted Cruz’s historian, David Barton, now labels that quote “unconfirmed.” By all accounts, the quote cannot be found in any of Madison’s writings or can’t be traced to any primary source.
Someone should tell Phil Robertson that several of the quotes Barton used in his first book cannot be found in primary sources.
Tag: Spurious quote
The Institute on the Constitution Again Falsely Ascribes Quote to Thomas Jefferson (UPDATED)
If the Institute on the Constitution leaders can’t get these easy quotes right, then how can they be trusted to teach the Constitution?
This time it is Jefferson again. IOTC has Jefferson saying, “That government is best which governs least.” According to the ever reliable Anna Berkes at Monticello, Jefferson didn’t make that quote.
The IOTC has falsely attributed quotes to George Washington (twice), Thomas Paine, and to Jefferson (twice). It certainly looks like they don’t care. To my knowledge, they have never corrected the false information or removed the fake quotes.
UPDATE: Someone who runs the IOTC Facebook page said the following in response to my assertion that the Jefferson quote was false.
Actually he quoted Henry David Thoreau’s work called “Civil Disobedience”. The quote is also part of his philosophy.
In fact, Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 and Civil Disobedience was published in 1849.