ANKENY, Iowa — Media personality Glenn Beck administered a mock presidential “oath of office” to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as he endorsed him on stage—and Cruz got the oath wrong when he took it.
“What is the oath of office that you have to take?” Beck asked Cruz after the Texas Senator joined him on stage after Beck’s more-than-half-hour-long speech endorsing Cruz.
“What—what?” Cruz replied.
“Dear God, if you don’t know this, everything else—“ Beck joked. “When you raise your right hand, what are you going to say?”
“I pledge to honor and defend the Constitution of the United States of America,” Cruz replied.
Technically speaking, that’s not the oath of office for the president of the United States.
The oath of office for the president of the United States is actually spelled out quite clearly in the U.S. Constitution, specifically Article II, Section 1, Clause 8. That part of the Constitution reads in full: “Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—’I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’”
That means Cruz saying the oath of office he’d take is—“I pledge to honor and defend the Constitution of the United States of America”—is not correct.
The oath of office Cruz would take if elected President is: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
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