On Monday, Sen. [score]Cory Booker[/score], D-N.J., used a fake Benjamin Franklin quote to bash the new Trump administration on both Facebook and Twitter, the Daily Caller reported.
"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority."
Benjamin Franklin— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) January 23, 2017
Katie Frates said the DCNF reached out to Dr. Blaine McCormick, chair of the Department of Management at Baylor University and a Franklin scholar, to verify the authenticity of the quote Booker used.
Here’s what Dr. McCormick told the DCNF:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
This does not appear to me to be a valid Franklin quote. It doesn’t even sound 18th century, does it? “Questioning authority” is a much more modern idea. Franklin was more into “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God”.
But let’s not trust my “ear” to detect if this sounds appropriately Colonial. Let’s check: The first place I look is the Franklin Papers at Yale University and the quote does not surface. You will find the “rebellion to tyrants” quote in the papers, though. Further, Franklin was a much better write than this. A more authentic Franklin quote might read, “The first responsibility of every citizen is to question authority” and I suspect Ben would add “…every good citizen…”.
So, why start the sentence with “It”? Even if Franklin were to start a sentence with “it” he would use the more Colonial version such as these quotes, “Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.” (BF, 1745) or “Tis a well spent penny that saves a groat.” (BF, 1749) There are many more authentic Franklin quotes which begin with “Tis” (short for “It is”, just to be clear).
Whoever perpetrated this particular hoax would have helped themselves by at least penning, “Tis the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority” to Franklin instead.
Frates added:
TheDCNF reached out to Booker’s office by phone and email. His communications director, Jeff Giertz, sent a sarcastic reply that did not meaningfully address why the senator or his staff would tweet and Facebook a false quote from a Founding Father to thousands and thousands of people: “As Ben Franklin may or may not have said, ‘to err is human; to forgive, divine.’”
When asked if that meant Giertz was fine with his senator tweeting and Facebooking inaccurate quotes to thousands of people, Giertz did not reply.
Of course not…
Related:
- Elizabeth Warren refuses to disavow Madonna’s call to ‘blow up’ White House
- Tomi Lahren: ‘Intolerant left tried to beat my a** at inauguration’ — Video
- ABC’s Jonathan Karl demands Sean Spicer take oath of truth — Video
- Women’s March protester calls for Trump to be beheaded, set on fire
- Sen. Lindsey Graham: ‘I don’t know what America first means’ — Video
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