Anti-LGBTQ+ education head tries to force 55,000 Trump-endorsed bibles into schools

A Bible endorsed by former president Donald Trump is one of just a few that meet the very specific requirements put forth by Oklahoma’s anti-LGBTQ+ State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters (R) regarding the 55,000 Bibles he wants in the state’s classrooms.

On September 30, the state’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services released a request for proposals (RFP) on behalf of the State Department of Education (OSED) seeking bids from potential contractors to supply 55,000 copies of the King James Version Bible, The Oklahoman reported. According to the request, only suppliers providing editions that include the United States Pledge of Allegiance, the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the U.S. Bill of Rights and that are “bound in leather or leather-like material” are eligible for the contract.

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A salesperson with retailer Mardel Christian & Education told the paper that of the nearly 3,000 editions of the Bible it sells, none meet those requirements. But the God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, first published by conservative country singer Lee Greenwood in 2021, does. Earlier this year, Trump licensed his name and likeness to be used in marketing for a new edition of the God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, reportedly receiving sales royalties for his endorsement.

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Former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson told the paper that the state education department’s RFP may violate state law. “It appears to me that this bid is anything but competitive,” Edmondson said. “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.” 

According to Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice Executive Director Colleen McCarty, “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.”

The Oklahoma Department of Education’s RFP also appears to exclude significantly cheaper editions of the Bible, which are widely available. The Trump-endorsed God Bless the U.S.A. Bible sells for $60 online, and as The Oklahoman notes, 55,000 copies could cost the state $3.3 million.

On September 26, days before the Office of Management and Enterprise Services released its request for bids, Walters included $3 million for classroom Bibles in the education department’s 2026 budget request to the Oklahoma Legislature.

“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,’” Oklahoma Democratic Party Chair Alicia Andrews said.

According to The Oklahoman, Walters may be angling for a cabinet position should Trump get reelected.

The specific number of Bibles specified in the RFP, 55,000, also seems to contradict Walters’ public statements about his June mandate that all Oklahoma school districts incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments into their curricula for grades five through 12.

Guidelines put out by the Oklahoma State Department of Education in July specified that teachers should incorporate the Bible “in a manner that emphasizes only its historical, literary and secular benefits, ensuring compliance with legal standards and precedents.” And Walters has said publicly that the Bible should be incorporated in the context of history and literature. But as The Oklahoman notes, there are only 43,000 classroom teachers and even fewer who teach only history and literature.

Meanwhile, the superintendents of local school districts across the state have said they do not plan to change their districts’ curricula to comply with Walters’ directive. Some superintendents who responded to a recent survey by Oklahoma public radio’s StateImpact offered blistering takes of Walters’ motives, with one describing the Bible directive as “a personal political gimmick,” and another writing that it was intended “to cause controversy and get interviews on the national stage.”

Indeed, Walters’ education department is contracted to pay DC-based Vought Strategies $60,000 per year to book him for national media appearances.

And Walters has definitely gained national media attention over the past year.

In January, he was criticized by both Republican and Democratic state lawmakers for appointing Chaya Raichik, the anti-LGBTQ+ hate influencer behind Libs of TikTok, to Oklahoma’s library advisory committee. Following the death of 16-year-old trans Oklahoman Nex Benedict in February, Walters’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies came under intense scrutiny, with many allies and advocates accusing him of fostering the environment of hostility toward LGBTQ+ students that contributed to the teen’s tragic death. The Human Rights Campaign and over 350 LGBTQ+ rights organizations, civil rights groups, and leaders sent an open letter to the Oklahoma state legislature demanding Walters be removed from office.

More recently, 21 Oklahoma Republican lawmakers have called for an impeachment investigation into Walters’ handling of the OSED.

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