About

Two Corinthians is a gaffe uttered by Donald Trump during a January 2016 speech given at Liberty University about the preservation of Christianity in the United States. During the speech, he said, "Two Corinthians 3:17, that's the whole ballgame […] 'Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.'" The bible verse which he labeled "two" Corinthians is typically called "Second Corinthians." The gaffe was used online as a way to discredit his religious beliefs in 2016 and then resurfaced again in May 2020 following his trip to take photos in front of a church amid protests.

Origin

On January 18th, 2016, Donald Trump spoke at evangelical college Liberty University. During his speech, he cites a verse from second Corinthians but said it was from "two corinthians." The video was uploaded that day by C-SPAN on YouTube (shown below). The video garnered over 237,000 views and 1,100 likes in four years.

Spread

On January 18th, 2016, Twitter user @awzurcher^[3] tweeted a picture of Trump at Liberty University with the caption, "Trump cites Bible passage 'Two Corinthians'. Crowd at evangelical Liberty U laughs. Should be 'Second Corinthians'" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 320 likes in four years. On January 23rd, the Twitter account for Saturday Night Live^[4] tweeted, "She's two Corinthians short of a Bible" (shown below, right). The tweet received over 700 likes in three years. CNN^[1] and Mashable^[2] published articles on the gaffe.

George Floyd Protests

On June 1st, 2020, Donald Trump walked to a nearby church to stand outside and pose with a bible amid protests due to the death of George Floyd. That day, Twitter user @hilaryluros^[5] tweeted a photo from the event caption, "President: Two Corinthians walked into a bar…" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 2,200 likes and 480 retweets in a day. The next day, Twitter user @Pastor_Gabe^[6] tweeted, "So I see the "Two Corinthians" joke has resurfaced. I know President Trump is not a Christian, but saying two instead of second Corinthians is not evidence of biblical ignorance. Some of my favorite preachers say "Two Corinthians" including Alistair Begg. It's a thing. Move on" (shown below, right). The tweet accumulated over 280 likes in a day.

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