Trump expresses support for displaying the Ten Commandments in schools

By CNN Newsource

Published June 21, 2024 9:17 AM

By Kate Sullivan, CNN

(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump on Friday expressed support for displaying the Ten Commandments in schools after Louisiana’s Republican governor signed new legislation requiring the state’s public schools to display them in all classrooms.

“I LOVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, AND MANY OTHER PLACES, FOR THAT MATTER. READ IT — HOW CAN WE, AS A NATION, GO WRONG???” Trump posted on his social media website Truth Social.

Trump continued, “THIS MAY BE, IN FACT, THE FIRST MAJOR STEP IN THE REVIVAL OF RELIGION, WHICH IS DESPERATELY NEEDED, IN OUR COUNTRY. BRING BACK TTC!!! MAGA2024.”

Trump has courted religious voters ahead of November’s election, and Friday’s post was made the day before he is set to speak to a gathering of Christian conservative voters in Washington, DC.

The controversial new law, signed by Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday, mandates that a poster-size display of the Ten Commandments with “large, easily readable font” be in every classroom at schools from kindergarten through the university level that receive state funding. It makes Louisiana the first state to require such a display.

Civil liberties groups have vowed to challenge the law, arguing it is unconstitutional and violates longstanding Supreme Court precedent. Opponents of the mandate point to the establishment clause of the US Constitution that says Congress can “make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation have said they plan to file a lawsuit to challenge the new law.

Supporters of the mandate cite the 2022 US Supreme Court decision that gave a high school football coach his job back after he was disciplined over a controversy involving prayer on the field. The ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District said the coach’s prayers amounted to private speech protected by the First Amendment and could not be restricted by the school district and essentially lowered the bar between church and state. Legal experts at the time predicted the decision would lead to more religious expression in public spaces.

CNN’s Stephanie Gallman and Dianne Gallagher contributed to this report.