
Evangelist Franklin Graham and outspoken supporter of president Trump is being called out for hypocrisy after criticising presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg for calling himself a 'gay Christian'.
In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Graham slammed Buttigieg, saying:
Buttigieg is right - God doesn’t have a political party.
But God does have commandments, laws & standards He gives us to live by. God doesn’t change. His Word is the same yesterday, today & forever.
He then went on to say that he thinks 'homosexuality is a sin':
As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized.
The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women.
Finishing his rant, he added:
The core of the Christian faith is believing and following Jesus Christ, who God sent to be the Savior of the world—to save us from sin, to save us from hell, to save us from eternal damnation.
The comments from Graham come just days after Buttigeig stated that 'God doesn't have a political party', while discussing how to unite liberals and conservative Christians in his 2020 campaign.
Buttigeig, who is gay, has been open both about his homosexuality and his Episcopalian faith, and has also been vocally critical of Evangelicals who support anti-LGBT+ beliefs, taking aim at both Trump and Pence regarding homophobia.
Speaking on CNN last week, the Hill reports he said:
The vice president is entitled to his religious beliefs
My problem is when those religious beliefs are used as an excuse to harm other people.
He also said that Donald Trump's actions make it 'hard to believe' that he's a Christian, and pointed out the 'hypocrisy' of the religious right for supporting Trump.
The religious right includes Graham, whose unwavering support of Trump seems to turn a blind eye to his not-so-Biblical traits of continual lying and dismissing his alleged affair with adult performer Stormy Daniels, reports the Huffington Post.
Twitter users were quick to pick up Franklin on his double standards, including his blind eye to Trump's philandering and lying.
@Franklin_Graham @PeteButtigieg @Franklin_Graham Your party’s President is a philanderer and a liar but you are wil… https://t.co/f57a8ZETki— Gail Barraco (@Gail Barraco) 1556149597
Some got personal.
Others got slightly sarcastic...
God's going to have a few stern words for you, mate.
@Franklin_Graham God loves everyone. He is gonna have stern words for you though.— Andy Cohen (@Andy Cohen) 1556155437
Again, you REALLY don't care about Trump's alleged sexual assaults?
Wake me up when Franklin Graham calls on Donald Trump to repent for being a serial sexual-assaulter and cheater. https://t.co/ubUNHUbXvM— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@Ana Navarro-Cárdenas) 1556157229
You don't care even a little bit about the 'grabbing'?
But grabbing women by the pussy, sleeping with a porn star while your wife is pregnant, and lying about a black man… https://t.co/D8jJrGEopT— Keith Boykin (@Keith Boykin) 1556149632
@Franklin_Graham As a Christian how do you believe the bible defines grab them by the pussy— Chelsea Peretti (@Chelsea Peretti) 1556149866
Yep, still not getting how you can excuse this massive double standard?
@Franklin_Graham Even if @realDonaldTrump "isn’t afraid to be identified with God or His Son, Jesus Christ," doesn'… https://t.co/3X57vSKChC— Jeryl Bier (@Jeryl Bier) 1556141075
Judas!
@Franklin_Graham You epitomize one of Jesus' disciples. Unfortunately—it's Judas.— John Pavlovitz (@John Pavlovitz) 1556154739
Franklin is a vehement supporter of the Trump administration. Speaking on Axios on HBO, the Hill reports he said:
Now people say 'Well Frank but how can you defend him, when he's lived such a sordid life?'
I never said he was the best example of the Christian faith. He defends the faith. And I appreciate that very much.
HT Huff Po
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