Evangelist Franklin Graham was criticized by political experts and onlookers on Friday after he explicitly sided with Donald Trump in the former president's ongoing criminal trial in New York.
"Pray for former President [Trump]," he wrote on social media. "His enemies want to do everything they can to destroy him, to put him in jail, or to drag out this trial to prevent him from campaigning. I’m not telling you to vote for him—I’m asking you to pray for him."
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Joe Walsh, a former GOP lawmaker who identified as a "Tea Party Republican," called Graham out from the perspective of a fellow Christian.
"Hey [Graham], you & I are Christians. Jesus Christ is our Lord & Savior. And Donald Trump is EVERYTHING Jesus taught you & I NOT to be," Walsh wrote on Friday. "Trump is the ANTITHESIS of how Jesus taught you & I to live. My God man, how dare you continue to support Trump. Shame on you."
Democratic Representative Ted Lieu also chimed in.
"Dear [Graham]: Judges and prosecutors and juries are not enemies. They are Americans trying their best to apply the law," he said. "Donald Trump is a criminal defendant. I will pray our criminal justice system treats Trump just like any other criminal defendant."
Dr. Valerie R. Landfair, Ph.D., pointed to Trump's civil sexual assault finding of liability.
"Judge clarifies: Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll and has 91 criminal counts. [Graham], did I miss the Pray for former President [Barack Obama] - 1 wife, Christian faith, frequently attended church, familiar with scriptures and hymns," she wrote Friday. "The Saints hate DEI!"
Conservative Army Iraq War Veteran Peter Henlein asked, "Why might Christianity be on the decline in this country?"
"Maybe it’s because some of its most prominent leaders do things like ask you to pray for a serial fraudster, $60 bible huckster, 20 year Jeffrey Epstein bestie who spent a lifetime screwing people over because he is on trial for paying hush money to p*rnstars he cheated on his wife with," he added.
