Presidential Biographer Jon Meacham argued that Pastor Franklin Graham’s call for South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg to repent for being gay could end up helping him during the Democratic primary in a Thursday morning interview on “Morning Joe.”
“You know, one more cynical reading of all this could be that Mayor Buttigieg at this point might be complemented by this,” Meacham said. “Because he’s risen to a level that the other side is worried. That’s an interesting place to be. Franklin Graham is someone I’ve met and spent time with, he referred to Islam some years ago as a wicked religion. I’m sure there is a whole series of statements that people are revisiting.”
Scarborough chimed in, attacking Graham and the evangelical community as a whole for their responses to President Donald Trump and the gay community.
“It’s a grave concern that I’ve had about the evangelical community, my community over the past three years,” he began. “And Franklin Graham is the most unworthy of vessels, again, because if someone had been consistent and criticized Bill Clinton and then criticized Donald Trump, unlike Franklin Graham, for their lifestyle choices, for their sins, then they would be in a better position if they wanted to talk about people in 2020, they could.”
The MSNBC host continued that people were free to believe that being gay is a sin, but added that no one can harass someone into changing their faith or their views. Scarborough then compared Franklin’s responses to former President Bill Clinton’s actions that led to his unsuccessful impeachment and the minister’s actions towards Donald Trump, who engaged in morally questionable behavior, according to Scarborough.
Graham made news Wednesday when he released a statement on Twitter where he asserted that Buttigieg’s sexuality is “something to be repentant of.”
“Presidential candidate & South Bend Mayor @PeteButtigieg is right—God doesn’t have a political party. But God does have commandments, laws & standards He gives us to live by. God doesn’t change. His Word is the same yesterday, today & forever,” Graham tweeted.
“Mayor Buttigieg says he’s a gay Christian. As a Christian, I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women,” he continued.
“Mayor Pete” announced his candidacy in January and has made news criticizing Trump’s religion before. He called Pence the “cheerleader for the porn-star presidency” during a CNN town hall last month.