Anti-Trump ad featuring Billy Graham is also an indictment of his son, Franklin | Opinion
Franklin Graham doesn’t like the way a political group advocating for Vice President Kamala Harris is using his iconic father’s image and words. The Rev. Billy Graham I grew up with wouldn’t like the way his son has politicized the faith to which the senior Graham dedicated his life.
No matter what happens at the ballot box this November, the damage men like Franklin Graham have done to the image of Christianity will be long lasting and not easily repaired. The irony is that the political ads that have so upset the junior Graham makes clear why.
One of the ads begins with an old clip of Billy Graham trying to spread the Gospel while standing before the large crowds he was known to routinely attract.
“But you must realize that in the last days, the times will be full of danger,” he preached. “Men will become utterly self-centered and greedy for money.”
The power of the ad, though, is what comes next. It cuts to a clip of Trump.
“My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy,” Trump says. “I grabbed all the money I could get. I’m so greedy.”
The ad shows several clips of Graham while juxtaposing them with Trump.
“They will be proud and abusive…,” Graham preached in the ad.
“They will be treacherous, reckless, and arrogant… loving what gives them pleasure instead of loving God… maintain a façade of religion, but their lives deny the truth.”
Each time, it cuts to Trump declaring he is “the chosen one” or replaying the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which he brags about casually sexually assaulting women.
In another ad, Graham preaches about the importance of forgiveness while Trump says he’s never asked for God’s forgiveness.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God,” another begins before showing Trump bragging that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose support.
It’s a damning indictment not only of Trump, but of Franklin Graham, a man who has fallen in line behind the type of charlatan his father warned us about.
Instead of being convicted and learning from his mistakes, Franklin Graham has condemned the producers of the ads. In August, he took to “X,” formerly known as Twitter, to berate Evangelicals for Harris, a group that said this week Graham has tried to get the ads pulled.
“Maybe they don’t know that my father appreciated the conservative values and policies of President Donald Trump in 2016, and if he were alive today, my father’s views and opinions would not have changed,” Franklin Graham wrote.
If true, Billy Graham wasn’t the man I thought he was, not the man my mama made me and my siblings sit down to watch on TV like millions of others throughout the South.
If true, Billy Graham isn’t worthy of the reverence many of us have long had for a man we’ve believed tried to lead people to God even when we disagreed with some of his teachings.
If true, Billy Graham wasn’t as authentic as he presented himself for most of his life.
That’s what Franklin Graham doesn’t seem to understand, or doesn’t care to. His embrace of Trump is denigrating his father’s name, and this country’s largest religion.
While there are plenty of people involved with his non-profit Samaritan’s Purse performing great deeds, including in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, that can’t make up for how Franklin Graham has defiled the faith he says he loves by worshiping Trump.
This story was originally published October 5, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Anti-Trump ad featuring Billy Graham is also an indictment of his son, Franklin | Opinion."