Ron DeSantis’ staff members reportedly had to hurriedly purchase a Bible for $21.47 on Amazon just days before the governor’s inauguration in January 2019, according to a receipt shared by campaign aides with NBC News. DeSantis, who was raised Catholic and has made an effort to appeal to evangelical voters in his bid for the 2024 presidential election, told staffers at the time that his family did not own a Bible and appeared to be unperturbed that he did not have one to be sworn into office. A former aide told the news network that “people are typically sworn in on something that is historic… It was profoundly strange that he did not care at all and treated it like it was nothing.” When approached for comment, the DeSantis campaign told NBC News that its report was “a pathetic lie worthy only of a tabloid gossip rag.”
