Franklin Graham

Franklin Graham is the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization. He’s an American Christian evangelist, missionary, and son of the world’s most recognizable and influential evangelist, Billy Graham.

Graham called Islam an “evil” and “wicked” religion in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. On CNN, he declared “true Islam cannot be practiced in this country” since “you can’t beat your wife, you cannot murder your children if you think they’ve committed adultery or something like that, which they do practice in these other countries.”

He has also echoed Frank Gaffney’s paranoid talking points regarding a Muslim infiltration. Graham says that the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the Obama administration and is shaping U.S. foreign policy. Graham also believes President Obama was “born a Muslim.” He has protested the construction of the Park51 community center, suggesting that Muslims “will claim now that the World Trade Center property … is Islamic land.” On April 22, 2010, the Pentagon rescinded his invitation to speak at the National Day of Prayer event in response to his anti-Islam, fear-mongering comments.

On October 2010, Graham participated in ABC’s town hall debate asking “Should Americans Fear Islam?” One of his fellow co-debaters was Robert Spencer, director of the Jihad Watch. On the show, Graham asserted Muslims “want to build as many mosques and cultural centers as they possibly can so they can convert as many Americans as they can to Islam. I understand that.”