It’s only 35 words
Tripping up from the very beginning — and it’s a script more than 200 years old.
In all fairness, Chief Justice John Roberts messed up the oath too, but at least he corrected himself.
One would expect the president-elect to have memorized the 35-word oath of office, and it’s no doubt that Barack Obama did. He paused (awkwardly) after Roberts mistakenly moved the word “faithfully” while administering the oath. Roberts then corrected himself, putting the words in the correct order, but Obama then repeated the previous, incorrect order.
Roberts, one of former President George W. Bush’s appointees on the high court, led the way. But, when he reached the phrase, “that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States,” Roberts at first omitted the word “faithfully” – he re-inserted it after “president of the United States.”
Obama paused, not taking the miscue at first.
So Roberts repeated the phrase correctly, inserting “faithfully” in the right order: “faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.”
Yet Obama then repeated Roberts’ original misstatement – “the office of president of the United States faithfully.”
Couldn’t he have just recited it correctly from memory?
Here’s the video. Notice, too, how Obama jumps the gun from the start, speaking over Roberts as he continues to administer the oath.
The sad part, is that the oath is captured as a screw up for posterity. Historical perspectives of the Obama presidency will have to skip over the oath of office.
