Mike Huckabee’s 1998 Book Is Full Of Fake Quotes From America’s Founders

Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s 1998 book Kids Who Kill is full of spurious quotations from leading American political figures, mostly the country’s founding fathers.

A number of the quotations, such as those from Washington and Jefferson, have been routinely debunked by libraries of the past presidents but still regularly find their way into books from conservative figures. Other quotes, debunked by prominent historians, seem to be used for the first time in the book. 

The book was co-written with evangelical author George Grant in response to a mass shooting in Arkansas. The book links that shooting to the decline in America’s moral culture. The quotes, from figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry, are often used to reinforce Huckabee’s moral viewpoint.