Oklahoma is accepting bids to supply its Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles, but vendors can only find two versions that meet all the statutory requirements – and both of them happen to be endorsed by Donald Trump.
The bid documents show that Bibles must be the King James version, contain both the Old and New Testaments, be bound in leather or leather-like material, and include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but vendors are suspicious of the requirements, reported The Oklahoman.
“It appears to me that this bid is anything but competitive,” said Drew Edmondson, a Democrat who served as the state attorney general from 1995 to 2011. “It adds to the basic specification other requirements that have nothing to do with the text. The special binding and inclusion of government documents will exclude almost all bidders. If the bid specs exclude most bidders unnecessarily, I could consider that a violation.”
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Mardel Christian & Education carries 2,900 Bibles, but a salesperson who searched their inventory found none that fit the parameters outlined by state schools superintendent Ryan Walters, but country singer Lee Greenwood's God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, which Trump endorsed in exchange for a cut of the sales, fits the criteria perfectly.
“The [request for proposals] on its face seems fair, but with additional scrutiny, we can see there are very few Bibles on the market that would meet these criteria, and all of them have been endorsed by former president Donald Trump,” said Colleen McCarty, executive director of the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.
The God Bless the U.S.A. Bible sells for $60 online, while the Trump-backed We The People Bible, which also meets Walters' criteria, sells for $90, but King James Version Bibles are widely available online for $2.99 each and many Bible apps are free.
"For (Walters) to craft this RFP, to specifically identify this Bible, this document that the state taxpayers would spend money on, either is a dereliction of duty, a dereliction of stewardship or maybe it is a … signal to former President Trump: ‘Hey, hey, I’m on your team, sir,’” said Alicia Andrews, chair of the state Democratic Party.
Four civil rights organizations announced they are making a joint open records request to determine the source of $3 million in the Department of Education budget that Walters says is available to purchase the Bibles, and the outgoing chair of the House Appropriations and Budget education subcommittee is wondering the same thing.
“It was not in any appropriation or even mentioned in any budget request," said state Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore).
Walters announced the Bible mandate in June “as an instructional support into the curriculum” for grades 5-12, and he asked for $3 million on Sept. 26 to purchase them for classrooms as part of his fiscal year 2026 budget request to the Oklahoma Legislature.
“We have talked about ensuring that our history courses include the role the Bible played throughout American history,” Walters said. “We’ve talked about the efforts of left-wing groups and the teachers’ unions to drive the Bible out of school. I believe it’s important for historical context for our kids to understand the role the Bible played.”
Some of the superintendent's critics believe that Walters is angling for a cabinet position if Trump wins re-election, and he has been outspoken in his support for the former president in his frequent appearances in conservative media.
“We are going to be so proud here in Oklahoma to be the first state in the country to bring the Bible back to every single classroom and every state should be doing this," Walters said in one interview this week. "President Trump praised our efforts. President Trump has been the leader on this issue.”