Watch Donald Trump refuse to name any verses in his "favorite" book, The Bible

"When I talk about the Bible, it's very personal, so I don't want to get into verses"

By Sophia Tesfaye

Senior Politics Editor

Published August 27, 2015 6:24PM (EDT)

  (AP//Charlie Neibergall)
(AP//Charlie Neibergall)

Donald Trump has recently grown fond of telling supporters on the campaign trail that his favorite book is the Bible -- followed by his business tome "The Art of the Deal." But when asked about his favorite Bible verse, the Republican presidential frontrunner declines to get specific.

"I go to church and I love God and I love my church," Trump boldly pronounced but in an interview on Bloomberg TV's "With All Due Respect." But he said the Bible was too personal to him to "get into specifics."

"The Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics," Trump told Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin, refusing to list one or two favorite verses.

Pressed again, Trump said the Bible was simply too personal to discuss publicly: "I wouldn't want to get into it because to me that's very personal. You know, when I talk about the Bible, it's very personal, so I don't want to get into verses."

John Heilemann, searching for a workaround, then asked Trump if he considered himself "an Old Testament guy or a New Testament guy."

"Probably equal," Trump answered matter-of-factly, explaining his inability to select just one: "The whole Bible is just incredible.”

Trump, a Presbyterian who says he regularly attends services at a 5th Avenue churchrecently threatened to “scare the Pope” away from critiquing capitalism by telling the pontiff that "ISIS wants to go in and take over the Vatican."

Trump has also said he can't remember the last time he sought the almighty's forgiveness, dismissing Holy Communion in the process. "When I drink my little wine -- which is about the only wine I drink -- and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed," Trump told an audience at the conservative Family Leadership Summtt in Iowa last month.

Despite his unorthodox approach to discussing his faith, Trump dominates his Republican opponents in the most recent polls of the early voting states, Iowa and South Carolina, both states with a large amount of evangelical voters.

Watch video of Trump's exchange with Halperin and Heilemann below:


By Sophia Tesfaye

Sophia Tesfaye is Salon's senior editor for news and politics, and resides in Washington, D.C. You can find her on Twitter at @SophiaTesfaye.

MORE FROM Sophia Tesfaye


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