Franklin Graham Issues Fiery Rebuttal to Christianity Today Invoking His Father in Call for Trump's Removal
Rev. Franklin Graham responded Thursday after the Christian magazine that his late father founded published an editorial calling for President Donald Trump’s removal.
Christianity Today — founded by famed evangelist Rev. Billy Graham — published its article one day after House Democrats, in a largely party-line vote, voted to impeach Trump.
“But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents,” the Christian magazine said. “That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.”
The article also cited Billy Graham in explaining why it called for Trump’s removal.
“In our founding documents, Billy Graham explains that Christianity Today will help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith. The impeachment of Donald Trump is a significant event in the story of our republic. It requires comment,” Editor in Chief Mark Galli wrote.
After noting that “that politics is not the end and purpose of our being,” Galli wrote that “we do feel it necessary from time to time to make our own opinions on political matters clear — always, as Graham encouraged us, doing so with both conviction and love.”
It was Christianity Today’s invocation of the late Billy Graham’s name that prompted his son to respond, Franklin Graham wrote on Facebook.
“Yes, my father Billy Graham founded Christianity Today; but no, he would not agree with their opinion piece. In fact, he would be very disappointed,” Franklin Graham wrote, before revealing that prior to his death, Billy Graham voted for Trump, who he believed to be “the man for this hour in history for our nation.”
It’s “unfathomable,” Graham said, that Christianity Today would “side with the Democrat Party in a totally partisan attack on the President of the United States.”
“Christianity Today failed to acknowledge that not one single Republican voted with the Democrats to impeach the President. I know a number of Republicans in Congress, and many of them are strong Christians. If the President were guilty of what the Democrats claimed, these Republicans would have joined with the Democrats to impeach him. But the Democrats were not even unanimous — two voted against impeachment and one voted present,” Graham added.
Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson and New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, the latter of whom is switching his party affiliation to Republican, were the only Democrats to vote “no” on both articles of impeachment.
Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii voted “present” on both articles, which accused Trump of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress,” respectively.
No Republicans voted in favor of impeaching Trump.
“This impeachment was politically motivated, 100% partisan,” Graham wrote.
“Why would Christianity Today choose to take the side of the Democrat left whose only goal is to discredit and smear the name of a sitting president? They want readers to believe the Democrat leadership rather than believe the President of the United States.”
Next, he cited Trump’s accomplishments related to helping the economy grow, defeating the Islamic State group and renegotiating trade deals.
“The list of accomplishments is long, but for me as a Christian, the fact that he is the most pro-life president in modern history is extremely important — and Christianity Today wants us to ignore that, to say it doesn’t count?” Graham wrote.
“The President has been a staunch defender of religious freedom at home and around the world — and Christianity Today wants us to ignore that? Also the President has appointed conservative judges in record number — and Christianity today wants us to ignore that? Christianity Today feels he should be removed from office because of false accusations that the President emphatically denies.”
Alleging an “inappropriate” quid pro quo on the behalf of the president, Democrats have taken issue with a July 25 call phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump did ask Zelensky to look into allegations of shady dealings involving former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter in Ukraine.
But Democrats have taken things a step further, claiming Trump planned to withhold about $400 million in military aid unless Ukraine publicly announced an investigation of his political opponent (Joe Biden).
While he was vice president, Biden pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who had investigated Burisma Holdings, an energy company where Hunter sat on the board.
Trump eventually released the aid to Ukraine, even though an investigation into the Bidens was never launched.
According to Christianity Today, “it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence.”
Graham said he disagrees.
“Christianity Today said it’s time to call a spade a spade,” he wrote. “The spade is this — Christianity Today has been used by the left for their political agenda. It’s obvious that Christianity Today has moved to the left and is representing the elitist liberal wing of evangelicalism.”
“Is President Trump guilty of sin? Of course he is, as were all past presidents and as each one of us are, including myself. Therefore, let’s pray for the President as he continues to lead the affairs of our nation.”
The Western Journal has reached out to Christianity Today for comment but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.
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