Billy Graham's Granddaughter: Evangelicals' Excuses For Trump Hurt Their Reputation
Jerushah Duford is the granddaughter of the late American evangelist Billy Graham. It’s a label and a legacy the 42-year-old evangelical Christian remembers carrying when she was a little girl in elementary school, and one that still appears to weigh heavily on her. Duford said she’s very much aware that her world-famous grandfather’s name opens doors that she would otherwise not have access to ― and that people may be more likely to listen to her words because of her lineage.
Now, Duford is using the platform she inherited to try to convince fellow evangelicals not to vote for President Donald Trump, putting her at odds with many members of her religious group ― including her own extended family.
“I want every marginalized community, every sex, every race, every nationality and every sexual orientation to know that Jesus loves them,” Duford told HuffPost in an email. “I want them to know that if they have not felt that from the church through this administration, then WE HAVE FAILED.”
Over the past few months, Duford has published an opinion piece slamming evangelical leaders for staying silent while Trump pursued policies that contradict the core tenets of Christianity. She has joined the women’s coalition of The Lincoln Project, a political action committee formed by Republicans who oppose Trump. She lent her name to the rollout of a bipartisan political action committee, Not Our Faith, which seeks to draw evangelicals and Catholics away from Trump.
And she’s endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in two venues: through a group called Pro-life Evangelicals for Biden, which makes the case that it’s possible for those who oppose abortion to vote Democrat, and through the faith-based voter mobilization group Vote Common Good, where she is on a list of over 1,600 faith leaders and activists who have endorsed Biden.
