Donald Trump advocate Franklin Graham is not happy with Evangelicals for Harris using clips of his father’s sermon to make a case that Trump is not fit for office.
The younger Graham, who now leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, has been an outspoken ally of Trump — breaking with the longstanding tradition of his father, who was publicly nonpartisan.
Evangelicals for Harris seeks to contrast the wholesome image of Billy Graham with the less-than-wholesome character of Trump.
Screencap from “Keep Clear” ad
“Keep Clear” is one in a series of ads produced by the group. It shows a clip of Billy Graham preaching: “But you must realize that in the last days, the times will be full of danger. Men will become utterly self-centered and greedy for money.”
While that kind of apocalyptic language is common in evangelical pulpits, it has not normally been used by more moderate or progressive Christians. It is a message that uniquely signals evangelical theology.
That’s why the shock value comes in the juxtaposition of the famed evangelist’s words against a clip of Trump standing before a row of American flags at a campaign rally and declaring: “My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy. I’ve grabbed all the money I could get. I’m so greedy.”
The ad repeatedly contrasts Graham’s preaching with clips of Trump saying the opposite thing. It places excerpts from the evangelist’s sermon against shots of Trump claiming to be “the chosen one” and talking about kissing women without their consent.
Screencap from “Keep Clear” ad
Franklin Graham and BGEA have threatened to sue, claiming the $1 million ad campaign wrongfully uses copyrighted material. Whether video of Billy Graham preaching would be considered by a court to be copyright-protected material is not clear, as Graham preached in public events that were recorded by multiple people.
Evangelicals for Harris says it has received multiple letters from lawyers representing the BGEA, including a “cease and desist” letter.
In a statement to Religion News Service, the BGEA acknowledged having communicated with Evangelicals for Harris regarding their concerns about the “unauthorized political use of BGEA’s copyrighted video.”
“It may be worth noting that, in all of his years of ministry and across relationships with 11 U.S. presidents, Billy Graham sought only to encourage them and to offer them the counsel of Christ, as revealed through God’s word,” the statement says. “He never criticized presidents publicly and would undoubtedly refuse to let his sermons be used to do so, regardless of who is involved.”
Franklin Graham has had no such boundaries. He is a frequent critic of Democrats and the Biden administration and has taken multiple public stands supporting Trump.
He complained on X about the Evangelicals for Harris ad campaign: “The liberals are using anything and everything they can to promote candidate Harris. They even developed a political ad trying to use my father @BillyGraham’s image. They are trying to mislead people. Maybe they don’t know that my father appreciated the conservative values and policies of President @realDonaldTrump in 2016, and if he were alive today, my father’s views and opinions would not have changed.”
Evangelicals for Harris responded by saying Franklin Graham is trying to silence the group based on its political views: “Franklin is scared of our ads because we do not tell people what to do or think. We merely hold Trump’s own words up to the light of Scripture, the necessity of repentance, and biblical warnings against leaders exactly like Trump.”
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