RNC speakers: What to know about Franklin Graham

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Trump praises work of Samaritan's Purse at front lines of New York's coronavirus crisis

Samaritan's Purse Rev. Franklin Graham on the work his organization is doing at a Central Park makeshift hospital in hard-hit New York City.

Evangelist Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, will speak at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Thursday.

As Trump seeks reelection, the president pointed to his evangelical base, saying he was "so honored" when Graham, 68, revealed his father, the late Rev. Billy Graham, voted for him after a Christianity Today editorial called for Trump's removal last December.

The North Carolina-based Christian leader revealed his father not only supported the president but also cast his last vote for him -- a fact he had repeatedly declined to confirm before the Christianity Today controversy. Billy Graham, who died in 2018 at the age of 99, served as a spiritual adviser to decades of presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama.

Trump won 81 percent of the white evangelical vote in the 2016 election and exit polls found that White Catholics supported him over Hillary Clinton, 60 percent to 37 percent. According to recent polls, his support has remained steady in those voting blocs.

Graham began selling “Pray for 45” T-shirts in 2018, and he was among a group of over 250 Christian leaders who called for June 2 to become a “Special Day of Prayer for the President” in 2019.

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President Trump's surprise walk to St. John's Church in June was condemned by Democratic leaders and clergy in Washington, but praised by his most prominent evangelical supporter.

Graham said he was encouraged, not offended, by the president holding up a Bible.

"Offended? Not at all," Graham wrote in a lengthy Facebook post, saying Trump "made an important statement that what took place the night before in the burning, looting, and vandalism of the nation’s capital—including this historic house of worship—mattered, and that the lawlessness had to end."

The evangelical leader called it "unbelievable" that religious leaders would attack the president for holding up "God's word" in a time of unrest across the nation.

"They should be thanking him rather than criticizing him! They are nitpicking his gesture, also saying he should have prayed while he was there. So critical," Graham said. "Well, maybe they should invite him back and pray for him as he leads this country through a very difficult time in our history."

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Graham is a leader who always calls for peace and unity but also for the human life to be lived – dying fulfilled and not unreconciled.

This summer when asked about the coronavirus he said: “We need to move forward. And we only have so many days of life. Now, I don’t know how many those days are. We think that we may live into our 70s or 80s or 90s. My father lived to be just right at 100. My mother (died) in her early 90s.”

He added: “But I don’t know if I’m going to live past tomorrow. None of us have a lease on life. Live the life that God has given us. But again, be smart about it. What we eat is important. What we drink is important, what we put in our bodies are important. And so many people suffer from all kinds of diseases because they haven’t taken care of themselves, and they die at an early age. I’ve had friends that smoked, and they died early. And it’s a shame they didn’t take better care of themselves. This coronavirus is going to be a thing of the past one day, I believe. But we’ve got to move on, and live our life.”