Rev. Franklin Graham is not one to shy away from politics, whether it be the Kavanaugh hearings or responding to the Trump-Cohen tape, Graham seems unafraid to speak his mind.
Recently, in an interview with Axios on HBO, the Reverend was asked how he can support President Trump, given the President’s questionable personal morals he’s demonstrated during his life.
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The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association addressed the issue rather bluntly (emphasis ours):
“Now people say ‘Well Frank but how can you defend him, when he’s lived such a sordid life?’ I never said he was the best example of the Christian faith. He defends the faith. And I appreciate that very much.”
When Graham was pressed further on how he can support Trump in lieu of how he has treated women in the past, Graham pointed out that each person has to stand before God on what they have done, but that the President had apologized to his family.
“Trump has admitted his faults and has apologized to his wife and his daughter for things he has done and said. And he has to stand before God for those things,” Graham added.
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Graham was also asked during the interview whether or not he thought that the evangelical church was becoming too synonymous with being a Republican.
“I’m going to support politicians that are going to support the Christian faith whether they’re Democrats, Republicans, independents,” Graham responded.
He added that he was thankful that President Trump had appointed two conservative judges to the Supreme Court because he believes that they will uphold the religious liberties promised in the U.S. Constitution.
“Politicians that are going to guarantee my freedom of worship. And I appreciate the president has appointed now two conservative judges that are going to defend religious freedom, so amen to that.”
Graham also added that there has been an increasing trend of liberalism appearing in churches in America. He argued that membership has gone down in those churches, due to the fact that they are not truly teaching the Bible.
“In this country, we have seen in the last 70 years, the liberalism in churches. And those churches, those denominations, a lot of that has membership has gone down as people have left. But churches that teach the Bible, believe the Bible, are doing well.”
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This wouldn’t be the first time that Graham has voiced his opinion regarding President Trump’s personal life.
“I can promise you he is not president perfect … he’s not a perfect person, no, and neither am I,” Graham had said in an interview last January. “And we certainly don’t hold him up as the pastor of this country — and he’s not.”
As always, there were Christians to both agree with Graham’s sentiments in his interview from Sunday, as well as others who completely disagreed.
On Monday, Julie Roys, a conservative Christian author, shared her thoughts on Graham’s interview with Axios to her Facebook page.
“Like Graham, I appreciate that Donald J. Trump defends Christians and religious liberty,” Roys wrote. “Trump has been a faithful supporter of policies near and dear to evangelicals and for that, I am grateful.”
“But I disagree with Graham that Trump’s treatment of women is a moot point simply because he apologized to his wife and daughters. Has he apologized to the women he abused and tried to make restitution? Hardly.”
Roys added sentiments that she yearned for a day where “we evangelicals could praise our current president for what he does right, yet hold him accountable when he does wrong.”
“I think we’d maintain a lot more credibility with the public if we did that. Plus, I think that’s what Jesus would do. I can’t see Him giving blanket support to any candidate,” Roys added.