Hate preacher Franklin Graham claims Joe Biden will throw homophobes in jail if elected president
Franklin Graham. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)
Franklin Graham has said Democrats will “push the gay lesbian agenda” in the same way they did under Barack Obama if Joe Biden is elected president.
Speaking to Tony Perkins, president of anti-LGBT+ hate group the Family Research Council, the Evangelical preacher warned, without any evidence, that Democrats would put anti-LGBT+ activists in prison if Biden triumphs in the presidential election.
In the wide-ranging interview, Graham spoke about his charity, Samaritan’s Purse, and said they had been “blessed up to this point” with administrations that were supportive of Christian ministries.
“The Obama administration, no question, there were problems there,” he continued. “You had a lot of activists in the White House that wanted to push hate gay lesbian agenda.
“They targeted businesses to shut them down – florists, bakers, people like that who refused to participate in a gay wedding,” he said, referring to a number of high-profile legal cases where service providers faced legal action for discriminating against same-sex couples.
He continued: “I think if the Democratic party wins again, they’ll be right back with that agenda and they’ll be looking for business and ministries to target, to shut them out of business, or even put them in jail. Who knows, but it’s coming.”
He doubled down on the baseless claim that anti-LGBT+ activists could be jailed under a Biden administration elsewhere in the interview, claiming that people who “serve in Jesus’ name” will keep “doing the work he told us to do” regardless of the election outcome.
“Now, it may cost us more, there may be people who go to prison,” he said. “But let’s do the work God’s called us to and not be afraid of what’s going to happen or not happen.”
Franklin Graham and Tony Perkins heaped praise on Mike Pence while they lambasted Joe Biden for supporting LGBT+ rights.
Elsewhere in the interview, the pair lamented the closure of churches in parts of the United States, a measure implemented in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
He also heaped praise on the homophobic vice president Mike Pence, saying they had recently prayed together.
Franklin Graham went on to encourage people to avoid supporting politicians based on personality and to instead focus on party policies, saying Democrats and Republicans are “so completely different”.
“We have a party that supports abortion and wants to do more, and if you vote for people in that you’re signing off to their agenda,” Graham said, referring to Democrats’ defence of the right to bodily autonomy.
“I think people don’t think of it that way, but you’ve got to think about what you’re signing up and what you’re signed up for when you vote for a person and you’re voting for that party platform.”
