Clinton mentions 1 Corinthians in victory speech

by Jonathan Swan - 02/27/16 8:35 PM ET

Hillary Clinton quoted from the Bible during her victory speech in South Carolina, saying Americans needed to show more love and kindness to one another.

{mosads}The former secretary of State, who crushed her rival Bernie Sanders in Saturday’s South Carolina primary by a projected margin of more than 40 percentage points, told the story of meeting a minister who was reading the Bible in the corner of a bakery in Columbia, S.C.

“He was studying 1 Corinthians 13, which happens to be one of my favorite passages,” Clinton told the audience at her victory party on Saturday.

“Love never fails, it tells us; love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

“These are words to live by, not only for ourselves but also for our country,” she added, to cheers.

Clinton rarely brings religion into her speeches, but it resonates strongly in South Carolina, where a significant number of her supporters belong to black churches.

Pundits on Twitter immediately picked up on Clinton’s correct pronunciation of “First Corinthians,” contrasting it against Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who was ridiculed for saying “Two Corinthians” in a January speech at Liberty University.

Clinton closed her speech in a tone that sounded like a preacher’s.

“I know it sometimes seems a little odd for someone running for president these days, and in this time, to say we need more love and kindness in America,” she said, as people in the crowd called out their approval.

“But I’m telling you from the bottom of my heart, we do,” she said. “We do.”

Tags Bernie Sanders Donald Trump Hillary Clinton South Carolina