Evangelist Franklin Graham Says Democratic Politics Have Turned Against Religion
Whereas the late Billy Graham warned against crossing the line with politicians, his son owns a Trump-endorsed Bible
By Vivian Salama May 12, 2024
https://www.wsj.com/politics/electi...-graham-donald-trump-support-0af2b035?mod=mhp
Rev. Franklin Graham during his ‘Decision America’ tour in 2018. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
BOONE, N.C.—When former President Donald Trump announced in March that he was joining forces with country singer Lee Greenwood to sell the new “God Bless the USA Bible”—a “patriotic” take of the holy text—the prominent evangelist Franklin Graham wanted to see what it was all about. He had a staffer buy a copy, which retails for $59.99.
Billed as the only Bible endorsed by Trump, it included copies of the Constitution and other national documents, as well as a handwritten chorus of Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”—Trump’s unofficial walkout song at rallies.
“He didn’t write it, God wrote it,” Graham, an outspoken supporter of the former president, said in a recent interview. He rejected the notion, expressed by some other Christian leaders, that Trump was profiting off Jesus.
“There was no contribution form, there was no fundraising with it,” Graham said. (The Bible’s website says that its sellers use Trump’s likeness “under a paid license”—suggesting he gets a cut of the profits.) “It’s the word of God.”
Graham’s intrigue with the Trump-backed Bible offers a case-in-point to the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s stronghold on evangelical Christians, many of them white, ahead of the November election. To many evangelicals, Trump—despite his at times checkered personal life—continues to be their champion with his unapologetic, politically incorrect approach to politics, religion and world affairs. His embrace of Christianity for political promotion and vindication in the face of legal turmoil has only deepened the conviction of Trump’s Christian base, according to officials with his campaign and some evangelical leaders.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump bowed their heads in prayer during a campaign rally earlier this year in Georgia. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Republican presidents and presidential candidates have long courted evangelical voters and leaders, but Trump stands out for spurring congregants to pressure their pastors to adopt a more hard-edge political message.
Graham’s father, the late Billy Graham, one of the most prominent evangelists of the 20th century, once conceded that he wished he had “steered clear of politics” over the years. He told American evangelical magazine Christianity Today in 2011 that “looking back, I know I sometimes crossed the line, and I wouldn’t do that now.” The elder Graham was often referred to as “Pastor to the Presidents,” having forged relationships with presidents from both parties dating back to Harry Truman.
As Franklin Graham tells it, his father’s regrets stemmed largely from his relationship with former President Richard Nixon, with whom he grew particularly close and whom he “felt betrayed” by when he discovered Nixon’s frequent use of “locker room language.”
By contrast, Franklin Graham, who has largely succeeded his father’s mission as an evangelist and humanitarian, has been one of Trump’s most vocal supporters and President Biden’s most fervent critics. Undergirding Trump’s staying power with many white evangelicals: his ability to speak to aggrieved segments of this community. Franklin Graham and other spiritual leaders say it is incumbent upon them to defend against what they see as politics commandeering the domain of religion.
Graham recently lashed out on social media with a warning that Trump’s “enemies want to do everything they can to destroy him, to put him in jail or to drag out this trial to prevent him from campaigning,” a reference to the trial related to an alleged 2016 hush-money payment to an adult-film actress. He ended his post with a plea: “I’m not telling you to vote for him—I’m asking you to pray for him.”
Graham said technology has changed the way clergy communicates since his father’s days. He said he doesn’t endorse presidential candidates, and yet he makes no secret of whom he supports. He conceded that Trump at times also uses “locker room” talk but defended the former president, saying he doesn’t hide it.
He said Trump stands for some but not all of his moral beliefs—but he still supports him. But Joe Biden? “Does he stand for any moral values of mine?” Graham asked. “I would have to do a lot of study on that.”
Then-President Donald Trump listened as Franklin Graham spoke at a campaign rally in November 2020 in Hickory, N.C. Photo: Chris Carlson/Associated Press
“Joe Biden’s administration has waged a years-long assault on Christianity,” said Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. “President Trump will restore the Christian conservative values of faith, family and freedom.” The Biden campaign declined a request for comment.
Franklin Graham’s approach isn’t embraced across the board. More than 32,000 people signed an online petition calling for him to be fired from the humanitarian and missionary groups he heads—Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association— for his support of Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The petition, hosted by Faithful America, an online community of Christians advocating for social justice, highlights past comments made by Graham—comments he doubled down on in The Wall Street Journal interview—that he believes Trump when he claims the 2020 election was stolen. Some evangelist leaders say blurring the lines between church and state could be dangerous.
In 2023, 66% of adults identified as Christian, or some Christian denomination—down from 70% in 2016 when Trump won the White House, and 91% in 1948, according to Gallup.
Trump won 81% of white evangelical Christians in 2020, while Biden won 18%, according to AP VoteCast, a large survey of people who cast ballots that year. A Wall Street Journal poll in March of seven battleground states found Trump continuing to hold a dominating lead with that group, winning support from 77% of white evangelical Christians to Biden’s 15% in a head-to-head contest of the two candidates.
Since Biden’s victory in 2020, Graham and other conservative Christians say there is a growing resentment among America’s Christian majority: that the country has forsaken them in favor of secular policies. Trump has seized on that resentment, vowing to cast Election Day as a “Christian Day of Visibility”—his response to the Biden administration’s recognition of “Transgender Day of Visibility,” which this year fell on Easter Sunday. Some conservatives declared it a war on Christianity. Graham repeatedly referenced advocacy for transgender people as a made-up concept and at the very heart of a Christian conservative revival.
Ironic, perhaps, is Trump’s ability to inspire many of the country’s deeply devout as a former casino developer who rarely attends church, has been divorced twice and has made disparaging comments about women, such as publicly insulting political opponents or their wives—something Graham himself admits he is uncomfortable with. Biden, on the other hand, is a practicing Catholic, attends Mass regularly and is said by advisers to be uncomfortable with the abortion debate, as it tests his deep spiritual beliefs. But for Graham, Biden’s policies don’t reflect Christian beliefs.
“Political winds have turned against us,” he said from his North Carolina office in the mountains, with walls covered in photos, deer-head busts and hunting rifles. “Politicians have taken on moral issues, and they’re saying these are now political issues and not moral issues—and I say ‘Wrong! This is our territory.’ ”
He described a range of issues as being moral in nature, including abortion, same-sex marriage, immigration and energy policies. The latter two issues, he said, affect the poor, their cost of living and their children—something he says is at the root of Christian missionary work.
Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush met with Franklin Graham and Billy Graham, seated, at the Billy Graham Library in December 2010. Photo: Todd Sumlin/Charlotte Observer/Getty Images
Graham plays down his influence. However, a photo hangs in his office holding hands in prayer with then-Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and his wife. It was taken in 2000 at the height of Florida’s election recount, after the election between Bush and Al Gore was too close to call. The photo went public.
“You think that picture may have been worth a few hanging chads to some people?” he asked. “It might have won Florida for him. I don’t know.”
—Aaron Zitner contributed to this article.
Whereas the late Billy Graham warned against crossing the line with politicians, his son owns a Trump-endorsed Bible
By Vivian Salama May 12, 2024
https://www.wsj.com/politics/electi...-graham-donald-trump-support-0af2b035?mod=mhp
Rev. Franklin Graham during his ‘Decision America’ tour in 2018. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
BOONE, N.C.—When former President Donald Trump announced in March that he was joining forces with country singer Lee Greenwood to sell the new “God Bless the USA Bible”—a “patriotic” take of the holy text—the prominent evangelist Franklin Graham wanted to see what it was all about. He had a staffer buy a copy, which retails for $59.99.
Billed as the only Bible endorsed by Trump, it included copies of the Constitution and other national documents, as well as a handwritten chorus of Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”—Trump’s unofficial walkout song at rallies.
“He didn’t write it, God wrote it,” Graham, an outspoken supporter of the former president, said in a recent interview. He rejected the notion, expressed by some other Christian leaders, that Trump was profiting off Jesus.
“There was no contribution form, there was no fundraising with it,” Graham said. (The Bible’s website says that its sellers use Trump’s likeness “under a paid license”—suggesting he gets a cut of the profits.) “It’s the word of God.”
Graham’s intrigue with the Trump-backed Bible offers a case-in-point to the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s stronghold on evangelical Christians, many of them white, ahead of the November election. To many evangelicals, Trump—despite his at times checkered personal life—continues to be their champion with his unapologetic, politically incorrect approach to politics, religion and world affairs. His embrace of Christianity for political promotion and vindication in the face of legal turmoil has only deepened the conviction of Trump’s Christian base, according to officials with his campaign and some evangelical leaders.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump bowed their heads in prayer during a campaign rally earlier this year in Georgia. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Republican presidents and presidential candidates have long courted evangelical voters and leaders, but Trump stands out for spurring congregants to pressure their pastors to adopt a more hard-edge political message.
Graham’s father, the late Billy Graham, one of the most prominent evangelists of the 20th century, once conceded that he wished he had “steered clear of politics” over the years. He told American evangelical magazine Christianity Today in 2011 that “looking back, I know I sometimes crossed the line, and I wouldn’t do that now.” The elder Graham was often referred to as “Pastor to the Presidents,” having forged relationships with presidents from both parties dating back to Harry Truman.
As Franklin Graham tells it, his father’s regrets stemmed largely from his relationship with former President Richard Nixon, with whom he grew particularly close and whom he “felt betrayed” by when he discovered Nixon’s frequent use of “locker room language.”
By contrast, Franklin Graham, who has largely succeeded his father’s mission as an evangelist and humanitarian, has been one of Trump’s most vocal supporters and President Biden’s most fervent critics. Undergirding Trump’s staying power with many white evangelicals: his ability to speak to aggrieved segments of this community. Franklin Graham and other spiritual leaders say it is incumbent upon them to defend against what they see as politics commandeering the domain of religion.
Graham recently lashed out on social media with a warning that Trump’s “enemies want to do everything they can to destroy him, to put him in jail or to drag out this trial to prevent him from campaigning,” a reference to the trial related to an alleged 2016 hush-money payment to an adult-film actress. He ended his post with a plea: “I’m not telling you to vote for him—I’m asking you to pray for him.”
Graham said technology has changed the way clergy communicates since his father’s days. He said he doesn’t endorse presidential candidates, and yet he makes no secret of whom he supports. He conceded that Trump at times also uses “locker room” talk but defended the former president, saying he doesn’t hide it.
He said Trump stands for some but not all of his moral beliefs—but he still supports him. But Joe Biden? “Does he stand for any moral values of mine?” Graham asked. “I would have to do a lot of study on that.”
Then-President Donald Trump listened as Franklin Graham spoke at a campaign rally in November 2020 in Hickory, N.C. Photo: Chris Carlson/Associated Press
“Joe Biden’s administration has waged a years-long assault on Christianity,” said Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. “President Trump will restore the Christian conservative values of faith, family and freedom.” The Biden campaign declined a request for comment.
Franklin Graham’s approach isn’t embraced across the board. More than 32,000 people signed an online petition calling for him to be fired from the humanitarian and missionary groups he heads—Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association— for his support of Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The petition, hosted by Faithful America, an online community of Christians advocating for social justice, highlights past comments made by Graham—comments he doubled down on in The Wall Street Journal interview—that he believes Trump when he claims the 2020 election was stolen. Some evangelist leaders say blurring the lines between church and state could be dangerous.
In 2023, 66% of adults identified as Christian, or some Christian denomination—down from 70% in 2016 when Trump won the White House, and 91% in 1948, according to Gallup.
Trump won 81% of white evangelical Christians in 2020, while Biden won 18%, according to AP VoteCast, a large survey of people who cast ballots that year. A Wall Street Journal poll in March of seven battleground states found Trump continuing to hold a dominating lead with that group, winning support from 77% of white evangelical Christians to Biden’s 15% in a head-to-head contest of the two candidates.
Since Biden’s victory in 2020, Graham and other conservative Christians say there is a growing resentment among America’s Christian majority: that the country has forsaken them in favor of secular policies. Trump has seized on that resentment, vowing to cast Election Day as a “Christian Day of Visibility”—his response to the Biden administration’s recognition of “Transgender Day of Visibility,” which this year fell on Easter Sunday. Some conservatives declared it a war on Christianity. Graham repeatedly referenced advocacy for transgender people as a made-up concept and at the very heart of a Christian conservative revival.
Ironic, perhaps, is Trump’s ability to inspire many of the country’s deeply devout as a former casino developer who rarely attends church, has been divorced twice and has made disparaging comments about women, such as publicly insulting political opponents or their wives—something Graham himself admits he is uncomfortable with. Biden, on the other hand, is a practicing Catholic, attends Mass regularly and is said by advisers to be uncomfortable with the abortion debate, as it tests his deep spiritual beliefs. But for Graham, Biden’s policies don’t reflect Christian beliefs.
“Political winds have turned against us,” he said from his North Carolina office in the mountains, with walls covered in photos, deer-head busts and hunting rifles. “Politicians have taken on moral issues, and they’re saying these are now political issues and not moral issues—and I say ‘Wrong! This is our territory.’ ”
He described a range of issues as being moral in nature, including abortion, same-sex marriage, immigration and energy policies. The latter two issues, he said, affect the poor, their cost of living and their children—something he says is at the root of Christian missionary work.
Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush met with Franklin Graham and Billy Graham, seated, at the Billy Graham Library in December 2010. Photo: Todd Sumlin/Charlotte Observer/Getty Images
Graham plays down his influence. However, a photo hangs in his office holding hands in prayer with then-Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and his wife. It was taken in 2000 at the height of Florida’s election recount, after the election between Bush and Al Gore was too close to call. The photo went public.
“You think that picture may have been worth a few hanging chads to some people?” he asked. “It might have won Florida for him. I don’t know.”
—Aaron Zitner contributed to this article.
