Josh Hawley tweeted out a misattributed quote from a segregationist newspaper on the Fourth of July
- On the Fourth of July, Sen. Josh Hawley tweeted a quote he attributed to Patrick Henry.
- The quote argues that America "was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians."
In a tweet posted on the Fourth of July holiday, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri quoted Patrick Henry — one of the Founding Fathers of the United States — to make a point about the specific role that Christianity played in the foundation of the country.
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ," reads the quote. "For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here."
But the quote didn't come from Henry. It came from a 1956 article in "The Virginian," a since-shuttered segregationist newspaper.
Hawley isn't the first person to make that mistake.
Several fact-checking websites have noted the misattribution, which may stem from a book called "The Myth of Separation" by minister David Barton.
Seth Cotlar, a professor of history at Willamette University, posted a portion of the original article from "The Virginian" on Twitter, noting that it appeared just after an article argued that both Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln "believed firmly in the absolute separation of the races."
The quote that Hawley attributed to Henry actually originates from "The Virginian," referring to a line in Henry's will in which he expresses his desire to pass his Christian faith, along with his property, on to his family when he dies.
"In the spoken and written words of our noble founders and forefathers, we find symbolic expressions of their Christian faith," reads the article. "The above quotation from the will of Patrick Henry is a notable example."
Hawley's Senate office did not respond to Insider's request for comment on quoting a segregationist newspaper.
But later on Wednesday, the senator seemingly nodded to the controversy, tweeting that the "libs are major triggered by the connection between the Bible and the American Founding."