The Rev. Franklin Graham is calling out the 10 Republicans who sided with their Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives, all of whom voted Wednesday afternoon in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump for the second time.
“Shame, shame on the ten Republicans who joined with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in impeaching President Trump yesterday,” Graham wrote in a Facebook post published Thursday afternoon. “After all that he has done for our country, you would turn your back and betray him so quickly?”
Graham went on to say there has “never” been a president like Trump, whom he praised for leading the way in lowering Americans’ taxes, building a strong economy, presiding over record-low unemployment, signing into law major prison reform, defeating ISIS, and securing the country’s southern border.
Most importantly for Christians, the famed evangelist argued, Trump “defended religious liberty like no president before him.”
The 68-year-old Graham said the sole reason Democrats moved this week to impeach Trump — a move that followed a violent riot inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — is because “they hate him and want to do as much damage as they can” as he prepares to leave office Jan. 20, when President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated.
“These ten, from [Trump’s] own party, joined in the feeding frenzy,” wrote Graham. “It makes you wonder what the thirty pieces of silver were that Speaker Pelosi promised for this betrayal.”
Graham is equating the Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment to Judas, the wayward disciple who, according to Matthew 26, betrayed Jesus to the Roman authorities for 30 pieces of silver.
The son of the late evangelist Billy Graham went on to admit Trump “isn’t a perfect person,” adding, he doesn’t “support or agree with some of the things the president has said and [done] the last couple of weeks.”
“January 6 was a low point in his presidency,” Graham conceded. “We knew he had flaws when he ran for office in 2016. But I, and millions of others, voted for him because of the platform and policies he promised. I still support those.”
He warned — as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has said — that moving to impeach Trump in the twilight of his term in office will only serve to further split an already bitterly divided country.
“I hope President-elect Biden will keep his word and work for unity as he has said,” Graham concluded.
The House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, moved forward late Wednesday afternoon with impeaching Trump. It is now up to the Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), to determine whether to convict Trump. McConnell said this week he does not plan to take up the matter until after Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20.