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Trump Isn’t the First Monster Evangelicals Backed

Graham calls for prayers for Putin as he prepares to ravage Ukraine

Manny Otiko
5 min readFeb 21, 2022
Franklin Graham and Vladimir Putin. (Twitter)

One of the most bizarre elements of the Trump years was the unholy alliance between the former president and evangelical Christians. I’ve written several articles about this subject. Trump received more than 80% of the Evangelical vote. Many of them rank him alongside Jesus Christ. One sign at the Jan. 6 terrorist attack read “Jesus is my Lord, Trump is my president,” However, this decision has done lasting damage to the church’s reputation.

But some Evangelicals also have an affinity for another neo-fascist dictator; Vladimir Putin. Putin has drawn praise from evangelical leaders such as Franklin Graham, son of famed evangelist Billy Graham. He visited with Putin, shook his hand and has aligned with his anti-gay stance.

“It’s obvious that President Obama and his administration are pushing the gay-lesbian agenda in America today and have sold themselves completely to that which is contrary to God’s teaching,” said Graham in a 2014 issue of Decision Magazine. “In my opinion, Putin is right on these issues. Obviously, he may be wrong about many things, but he has taken a stand to protect his nation’s children from the damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda.”

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Manny Otiko
Manny Otiko

Written by Manny Otiko

Manny Otiko writes about race, politics and sports. He has been published in Salon and LA Weekly. Follow him at @mannyotiko.bsky.social

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