Franklin Graham debases himself by implying that a vote for Trump = a vote for Jesus.

Franklin Graham

The noxious fusion between conservative evangelical leaders and Donald Trump took another step recently thanks to prime Trump cheerleader Franklin Graham. According to Right Wing Watch, Graham enlisted the help of several other Trump supporting evangelicals to transform an issue of a magazine run by his father's organization into a 2020 electoral brochure:

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, now led by Billy Graham’s right-wing​-activist son Franklin Graham, has turned the October issue of its “Decision” magazine into a virtual 38-page campaign brochure for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Franklin Graham hosted a “prayer march” on the National Mall on Sept. 26, the same day a group of End Time​s “prophets” hosted a rally calling for national repentance and revival.

 

It's called Election 2020 - Two Visions for America but it should be called Why Jesus Wants You to Vote for Donald Trump. And in case you think I'm being overly dramatic, check out the cover. 

Talk about throwing shade:

In case you haven't guessed by now, this magazine is an embarrassingly slobbering tribute to Trump. It's all about the courts, abortion, and LGBTQ rights (under the guise of claiming that they threaten "religious liberty). while either tiptoeing over other probably more vital issues such as the economy, racial justice, poverty, jobs, or even COVID.

And when I say an embarrassingly slobbering tribute to Trump, I am not exaggerating. The magazine may look good visually, but it's actually very tacky. At best, it resembles a swap meat version of the ending to The Godfather where various member of the criminal underworld kissed their leader's hand as a show of allegiance. 

In the case of Graham's magazine, several Trump supporting evangelicals contributed a piece praising him on a particular issue, which in my mind puts their puckering lips on a place lower than Trump's hand.

Here are several, according to Right Wing Watch:

Franklin Graham introduces the issue with a column under the headline, “Blessed in the nation whose God is the Lord,” a scriptural quote used often by Christian nationalists who insist the U.S. must “return” to God. Graham describes the Trump presidency as a “wonderful season of progress for the cause of religious freedom and the moral and Biblical values we hold dear​,” and he warns that if Trump loses, all that “wonderful” progress could be quickly and permanently reversed. 

 . . .​The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association turns to legal giant Alliance Defending Freedom for a column on religious liberty. ADF is a leader of the religious right’s effort to redefine religious liberty into a culture-war weapon to resist legal equality for LGBTQ people. ​In their column, ADF’s Kristen Waggoner and Jessica Prol Smith praise the Trump administration for aligning with ADF on religious liberty issues and judicial nominations. 

 . . .Anti-choice activist and POTUS Shield member Alveda King contributes a column on abortion. She lavishes praise on Trump administration actions to restrict access to legal abortion and dramatically expand the scope of the “global gag rule” to ban any U.S. foreign aid funds from going to groups that support access to abortion. She​, too, weighs in on the courts, praising Trump for placing “pro-life” justice​s on the Supreme Court and ​appointing more than 200 federal judges​, adding,[[.​]] “Most of these jurists are young people whose lifetime appointments will offer protection from the Democrat-appointed activist judges who have perverted our Constitution for decades.”

Was Graham's action in actively pushing a candidate illegal? Who knows and does it really matter? It's not like he's going to be punished for it. 

Was it unethical? Yes and without a doubt.

Is it rather shameful to watch these supposed servants of God demean themselves in front of a devil for political power? Definitely. A little advice, folks. The smell of sulfur is a bitch to get rid of.