Oath of the office that all presidents must make: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Right, but was he lying when he said it? He’s not sure.

He had his fingers crossed…

If I recall, he didn’t even place a hand on the Bible.

Pretty crazy that it’s sworn in the Bible when the state is supposed to be separated from the church

The separation of church and state is exactly why the president can be sworn in on a bible. Barring a member of office from swearing in on a religious text would specifically violate their first amendment right to practice religion. Importantly, the state doesn’t require them to use a bible, and it also doesn’t prevent them from doing so.

That’s the whole point of separation of church and state. If the state required it, that would be establishing a national religion. And if the state prevented it, that would be infringing on peoples’ right to practice religion.

It doesn’t need to be a religious text at all. It simply needs to be something that is important to the person being sworn in. Technically, you could be sworn in on a copy of the constitution itself.