Democratic strategist David Axelrod criticized President Trump for not placing his hand on the Bible during his oath of office on Monday.
In a post on .
“I can only imagine the flood of comments if @BarackObama had done the same thing,” he added.
Trump took the oath of office for the second time on Monday during a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.
During the oath, President Trump did not appear to have his hand on the Bible, which his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, was holding beside him. Whether Trump placed his hand on the Bible when taking the oath of office has nothing to do with the validity of the oath.
In his inaugural address, Trump said he was “saved by God” to “make America great again” after surviving a mass shooting at a campaign rally last year.
Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign, including one in July when he was shot during an outdoor rally in Pennsylvania. As the shots were fired, President Trump clutched his ears and raised his fist in the air as the Secret Service surrounded him, blood streaming down his face and ears.
He reflected on that moment in his inaugural address.
“Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet shot through my ear. But I knew then, and even more now, that my life had been saved for a reason. That's what I thought. God saved me to make America great again,” he said.
