Did Michele Bachmann Say the Bible was Written in English?

An popular internet meme offers a “quote” by Michele Bachman in which she allegedly says the Bible was written in English. Today we’ll attempt to find out if Michele Bachmann actually spoke those words.

We could find no evidence Bachmann ever made such a statement.

Let’s first take a look at what has been circulated over the past several months.

A meme featuring a photo of Bachmann includes a “quote” from the Congresswoman, which reads, “Jesus loves America the most. That’s why the Bible is written in English.”

Another variation reads, “Christianity isn’t a Middle Eastern religion. The Bible is written in English.”

The Congresswoman and former Presidential candidate has been no stranger to controversy, and the internet is rife with blog posts devoted to some of her more colorful quotes. Our first guess was that the quote above may have originated with a political satire piece from The Onion or one of its clones. We could, however, find no such article.

In tracing the meme’s online presence, we found some notable appearances online, which include:

• December 22, 2013: The meme was posted on Reddit. No source was given.
• October 25, 2013: It was posted on Google+ with commenters claiming that Bachmann never said it.
• August 27, 2013: The meme appeared on the United Atheists of America Facebook page.
• August 1, 2013: It was posted on the blog Seduced by the New.

Some versions of the meme, including the oldest version we could find, include a logo for the Christians For Michele Bachmann (C4MB) Facebook page. That page posts content which pokes fun at the Congresswoman in the name of satire, although not all readers have expressed appreciation for the nature of this content. 

Based on the information above, the Michele Bachmann quote was likely created as a meme for the Christians For Michele Bachmann Facebook page. Consider:

• We could find no appearances of the meme prior to mid-2013
• The earliest version of the meme includes the C4MB logo.
• No news sources or transcripts contain this alleged quote from Bachmann.
• The quote does not appear in this collection of Bachmann’s most controversial quotes.
• The quote also doesn’t appear in this Colbert Nation video collage of Bachmann quotes.

Version 3

A new variation of the “Bible in English” quote appeared this week, presumably after the controversial, multi-lingual Super Bowl ad by Coke. It reads, “If English was good enough for Jesus when he wrote the Bible, it should be good enough for Coke.” This meme also sports the Christians for Michele Bachmann logo.

The Photo

The first two versions of the meme above include an outtake photo of Michele Bachmann for her 2011 Newsweek cover shoot. That cover had its own criticism for using what was considered an unflattering image of the Congresswoman.

Video

We have a short YouTube video summarizing the information above:

Bottom Line

There is no evidence that Michele Bachmann said the Bible was written in English. This quote first appeared in mid-2013, and was possibly posted by the satirical Facebook page Christians For Michele Bachmann.

Do you have any information on this meme or the alleged quote by Bachmann? Please let us hear from you in the comments below.