Jerry Falwell Jr. Plans To Vote Trump Even If Sexual Assault Stories Are True

The President of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, Jr., speaks on the last day of the Republican National Convention. (Photo credit: Tine/Sipa USA
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Prominent evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, Jr. on Wednesday suggested that he will stand by and vote for Donald Trump, regardless of whether he sexually assaulted women, because he feels Trump is a changed man.

When asked about mounting allegations that Trump groped women, Falwell told CNN’s Erin Burnett he feels Trump has changed in the past five years and so those accusations didn’t worry him.

“I think he’s been through a change in the last four or five years,” Falwell said. “I think he’s been influenced strongly by his children, by his grandchildren. And I don’t think he’s the man he used to be.”

Burnett then asked Falwell whether Trump sexually assaulting women, if the allegations were true, was something Falwell could forgive and if Falwell could continue to support him. Falwell said that was not his place.

“It is not up to me to forgive anybody,” Falwell said. “I’m not, I’m not Jesus Christ. It is only Jesus who can forgive. And he can forgive anybody. All of us, we’re all redeemable. And like I said, Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners when he was here on Earth. And it is not up to us to forgive. It is up to us to decide who would be the best president of the United States, who would take the right position on the issues to make America great again.”

Burnett pressed him again to say outright that he would support Trump if it was proven that he did assault women. Again, Falwell deflected and said he wouldn’t answer hypotheticals.

“I can’t answer a hypothetical question,” he said. “You’re saying if,  if he murdered somebody, would I forgive him? That’s like asking something as ridiculous as that.”

“I’m going to vote for Donald Trump because I believe he’s the best qualified to be president of the United States,” he said. “And I’m not going to say anything to besmirch the character of any of these women.”

Falwell’s position clashes with that of some students at Liberty University, where he is president. Following Trump’s speech at the university Wednesday, a group called Liberty United Against Trump wrote a statement slamming Falwell for his support of Trump.

Watch below via CNN:

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. He clearly does not really believe in God…

    There is no compelling case that he can make for his eternal redemption. Call it a version of Pascal’s wager…

  2. Apparently “Render unto Caesar” means voting for whomever the fuck you want regardless of how radically his words and actions diverge from your “sincerely held” moral principles.

  3. Falwell: “Money doesn’t smell”

  4. You want to put babies on spikes while running for president? This would be Falwell’s response:

    “It is not up to me to forgive anybody,” Falwell said. “I’m not, I’m not Jesus Christ. It is only Jesus who can forgive. And he can forgive anybody. All of us, we’re all redeemable. And like I said, Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners when he was here on Earth. And it is not up to us to forgive. It is up to us to decide who would be the best president of the United States, who would take the right position on the issues to make America great again.”

  5. we support Cheeto Donnie because we trust him to save us from all the smut, sexual depredation, deviants and true enforcement of the xtian theocracy that America was always meant to be… PLUS child brides…

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

80 more replies

Participants

Avatar for yellowdogfox Avatar for meri Avatar for bluestatedon Avatar for adabsurdum Avatar for navamske Avatar for irasdad Avatar for marioth Avatar for inversion Avatar for mantan Avatar for weatherservo9 Avatar for alyoshakaramazov1 Avatar for ottnott Avatar for magical_panda Avatar for esva Avatar for 538liberal Avatar for captaincommonsense Avatar for riverstreet Avatar for jcblues Avatar for schmed Avatar for jonney_5 Avatar for clauscph Avatar for ljb860 Avatar for gusfabriani Avatar for asturcot

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: