Longtime Trump ally Franklin Graham just slammed the policy.<\/b>
\nDays after several White House representatives told journalists that a particular Bible verse legitimized government authority to separate migrant children from their families, several prominent Christians are arguing that the administration\u2019s actions are anything but. Over the weekend, dozens of notable Christian public figures from a variety of denominations have spoken out about the biblical call to care for immigrants, children, and refugees.
Some of them, like Russell Moore, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention\u2019s public policy arm, are longtime critics of President Trump.
But other vocal opponents of the Trump administration\u2019s policy are more surprising. Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelical preacher Billy Graham and an outspoken supporter of the Trump administration, sharply criticized the administration\u2019s actions, telling the Christian Broadcasting Network on Thursday, \u201cIt\u2019s disgraceful, and it\u2019s terrible to see families ripped apart and I don\u2019t support that one bit.\u201d
Both the speaker and the venue are striking. In the past, Graham promoted \u201cbirther\u201d rumors Trump spread about President Obama and told Christians to \u201cpray for\u201d Donald Trump because he is \u201c under attack from the left.\u201d Likewise, the Pat Robertson-founded Christian Broadcasting Network, home of the wildly popular evangelical TV show The 700 Club, has in recent years become a de facto mouthpiece for the Trump administration. Graham\u2019s open dissent from the Trump administration\u2019s position on migrant families, as well as his decision to do so on CBN, is a stunning reversal \u2014 one that might augur a wider shift in evangelical Christians\u2019 support for the Trump administration.
Opposition to the separation of migrant families, and to the Trump administration\u2019s position more generally, has been vocalized throughout Christian communities in recent weeks. At the Southern Baptist Convention\u2019s annual meeting last week \u2014 attended by Vice President Mike Pence, who was criticized for making an explicitly political speech \u2014 representatives overwhelmingly supported a resolution advocating for the inherent dignity of immigrants, as well as for immigrant reform more broadly. At that convention, it appeared that the longstanding alliance between GOP policy and (largely white) evangelical Christianity was, for some delegates, fraying. (While evangelical groups like the Southern Baptist Convention remain overwhelmingly white, the SBC \u2014 along with other evangelical groups \u2014 has been steadily growing more racially diverse in recent years.)
Likewise, at last week\u2019s spring meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), members took a stand against Trump\u2019s policy. In a statement read to journalists, Cardinal Se\u00e1n O\u2019Malley of Boston said, \u201cThe United States is now openly before the world using children as pawns to enforce a hostile immigration policy…. This strategy is morally unacceptable and denies the clear danger weighing upon those seeking our assistance.\u201d
It is unclear to what extent the Trump administration\u2019s position on immigration, or the opposition of major Christian leaders, will influence Christian voters on the ground. Trump\u2019s current approval rating, around 45 percent, is tied with the previous high point in his presidency. But the fact that someone as high-profile \u2014 and historically pro-Trump \u2014 as Franklin Graham is willing to criticize the president on this issue shows a clear boundary has been crossed.
During the presidential campaign, Trump famously said he could \u201cshoot someone on Fifth Avenue\u201d and his base would continue to support him. But as more and more influential Christian groups and leaders speak out against his policies, Christian voters may have to make a difficult choice. And it remains to be seen whether, having helped to create the force that is Donald Trump, Christian leaders will have any influence over the rank and file when it comes to stopping him.<\/p>\n

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