Fox News doesn’t seem to want to argue that Donald Trump is not the “profoundly immoral” liar and law-breaker described in a blistering Christianity Today editorial calling for his removal - so it has been finding other excuses for discrediting the magazine founded by Billy Graham.
Yesterday, I noted that Fox’s Chris Wallace whitewashed Trump’s unhinged response to the editorial as smart politics while host Sandra Smith did her part by suggesting probably correctly, that Trump’s support from evangelicals remains strong.
Later in the day, Fox’s Lauren Green also emphasized Trump’s strong support from evangelicals. But she also spoke with Billy Graham’s son, the bigoted birther Franklin Graham who hinted – without actually saying so – that his father would still support Trump:
GRAHAM: My father knew Donald Trump, believed in Donald Trump and in this last election, he voted for Donald Trump. And if he were here today, I’m sure he would tell you that himself.
Billy Graham died on February 21, 2018, a little more than one year into Trump's term. It seems quite possible that he could have changed his mind nearly two years later.
Other Graham progeny tell a different story. Grandson Boz Tchividjian called the editorial “well said on so many levels.” Granddaughter Jerushah Duford was especially affecting on CNN (video below) where she called the piece “long overdue” and “courageous.” Duford acknowledged that Trump has done some wonderful things for evangelicals but, she added, “my question is how much are we going to excuse in exchange for that?” She said she hopes the editorial will prompt other evangelicals to come forward and express their discomfort with Trump, too.
Duford also called it “dangerous” to opine on how Billy Graham “would act or feel or what he would say or do.” She said, “I would ask people to look at his ministry, to look at his character, to look at the things he did and said during his ministry and ask themselves if those things align with the things the president is doing and saying.”
But Green didn’t bother to tell viewers how the younger generation of the Graham family reacted. Heck, I wonder if she bothered to ask.
Watch both videos below, from the December 20, 2019 Fox News Reporting and CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront of the same day.
(Graham image via screen grab)