{"id":2458197,"date":"2025-07-10T21:38:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T01:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/evangelicals-for-harris-issues-apology-for-2024-anti-trump-ads\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T21:39:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T01:39:55","slug":"evangelicals-for-harris-issues-apology-for-2024-anti-trump-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/evangelicals-for-harris-issues-apology-for-2024-anti-trump-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Evangelicals for Harris\u2019 issues apology for 2024 anti-Trump ads"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fevangelicals-for-harris-issues-apology-for-2024-anti-trump-ads%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2458197&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/facebooks-political-ad-ban-is-blocking-vaccine-information\/\" title=\"Facebook\u2019s ... Ban Is Blocking Vaccine Information\">faith-based group<\/a> formerly known as Evangelicals for Harris, now called Evangelicals for America, has issued an apology for using unauthorized clips of the late Rev. Billy Graham in political ads during the 2024 presidential campaign supporting vice President Kamala Harris. The group acknowledged that their use of Graham&#8217;s image may have violated copyright and unintentionally implied his endorsement of Harris. They pledged to stop using Graham&#8217;s likeness in <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >future political messaging<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>One controversial ad juxtaposed Billy Graham&#8217;s preaching about the importance of seeking forgiveness with then-President Donald Trump&#8217;s admission that he had never asked for forgiveness for his sins, ending with a statement questioning Trump&#8217;s denial of christ. The campaign, which spent over $1 million targeting religious voters in battleground states, argued that Harris better represented Christian values than Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Rev. Franklin Graham, Billy Graham&#8217;s son and head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), condemned the ads, asserting that his father would not have supported Harris and had appreciated Trump&#8217;s conservative values. After legal threats from BGEA,Evangelicals for America initially defended the ads but later removed them and committed not to use any materials featuring Billy graham without permission.<\/p>\n<p>In their recent statement, Evangelicals for America emphasized respect for Billy Graham&#8217;s legacy as solely focused on spreading the Christian gospel rather than engaging in partisan politics, affirming their commitment to avoid using his image in electoral advocacy going forward.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Faith group behind &lsquo;Evangelicals for Harris&rsquo; issues apology over Billy Graham ads<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2171051\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A faith-based group that backed former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Vice President Kamala Harris\">Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a> during the 2024 presidential campaign <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/evangelicalsforamerica\/posts\/pfbid0qTgJS5FEDMUQygAa84y9RwJAjJJRYzixa7SkgaLWAcN1ZVcNuiShKqXp63yJBu8ml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">is apologizing<\/a> for a series of ads that used clips of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/billy-graham\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Rev. Billy Graham\">Rev. Billy Graham<\/a> without authorization, pledging to stop using the late evangelist&rsquo;s image in future political messaging.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.evangelicals4america.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Evangelicals for America<\/a>, formerly known as Evangelicals for Harris, acknowledged in a new statement on Tuesday that its use of Graham&rsquo;s likeness in campaign ads may have violated copyright and unintentionally suggested Graham supported Harris&rsquo;s candidacy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3468322\/stefanik-challenger-bizarre-deepfake-video-governor-bid\/\">Stefanik challenger posts bizarre deepfake video of her mocking flirt with governor bid<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3467878\/dean-phillips-says-there-isnt-room-for-socialists-like-zohran-mamdani-in-democratic-party\/\">Dean Phillips says there isn&#8217;t room for &#8216;socialists&#8217; like Mamdani in Democratic Party<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3467896\/georgia-voter-rolls-to-remove-500k-inactive-registrations\/\">Georgia starts process to remove 500,000 inactive voter registrations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The group acknowledged that it did not receive permission from the <a href=\"https:\/\/billygraham.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) \">Billy Graham Evangelistic Association <\/a>before using the clips.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our intent was not to infringe on BGEA&rsquo;s copyright or to give the impression that Rev. Graham would have taken a side in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/calls-to-fire-the-mandalorian-star-gina-carano-trend-on-twitter-again\/\" title=\"Calls To Fire \u2018The Mandalorian\u2019 Star Gina Carano Trend On Twitter Again\">publicly supporting<\/a> one political candidate over another in an election, so we apologize to BGEA,&rdquo; Evangelicals for America said in its statement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our hope is that these actions and our commitment not to use Rev. Billy Graham within a partisan electoral context will clarify confusion over the message in our original ads; affirm the value and importance of Christian dialogue about the way we engage in politics, and prioritizes Christians remaining in communion despite differences,&rdquo; the group added.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Great summary by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DBrodyReports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DBrodyReports<\/a> of our new ad and campaign! <\/p>\n<p>Christians should be swing voters in America, and our choice is clear in this election. <\/p>\n<p>We aren&#8217;t giving up on anyone and welcome all into a necessary conversation. <\/p>\n<p>Join our members this evening in kicking off our&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TaXYZeN1j8\">https:\/\/t.co\/TaXYZeN1j8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Evangelicals For America (@Evangels4Amer) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Evangels4Amer\/status\/1823677167496015883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 14, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>One of the <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3121552\/evangelicals-harris-ad-campaign-trump-faith\/\" target=\"_blank\">group&rsquo;s most controversial ads<\/a><\/span>  featured footage from a 2015 interview between GOP pollster Frank Luntz and President Donald Trump, filmed at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa before Trump launched his presidential campaign. During the exchange, Trump spoke about his Christian faith but admitted he had never asked for forgiveness for his sins.<\/p>\n<p>The ad opens with a clip of Rev. Billy Graham preaching about the importance of seeking forgiveness. It then cuts to Trump&rsquo;s response to Luntz&rsquo;s question, where he said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure I have&hellip;I don&rsquo;t bring God into that picture. I don&rsquo;t.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The video ends with a stark message displayed on-screen: &ldquo;Is there any greater denial of Christ than to say, &lsquo;I do not need his forgiveness?&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hats reading &ldquo;God, Guns and Trump&rdquo; and &ldquo;Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president&rdquo; are sold at a campaign rally for President Donald Trump in Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP Photo\/Jessie Wardarski)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The group poured over $1 million into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/never-trump-groups-are-running-new-ads-to-stop-nebraska-winner-take-all\/\" title=\"Anti-... organizations launch fresh ...s to p...ent Nebraska from ...opting a winner-takes-all system\">ad campaigns aimed<\/a> at religious voters in key battleground states, contending that Harris&rsquo;s character and policy positions aligned more closely with Christian values than those of Trump.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Rev. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and president of both the BGEA and Samaritan&rsquo;s Purse, publicly condemned the campaign at the time.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The liberals are using anything and everything they can to promote candidate Harris. They even developed a political ad trying to use my father @BillyGraham&rsquo;s image,&rdquo; Graham wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Franklin_Graham\/status\/1823870957259309221?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">post on X<\/a> in August 2024. &ldquo;They are trying to mislead people. Maybe they don&rsquo;t know that my father appreciated the conservative values and policies of President @realDonaldTrump in 2016, and if he were alive today, my father&rsquo;s views and opinions would not have changed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In response to legal threats from BGEA, Evangelicals for America accused the group of attempting to suppress their message by misrepresenting the intent of the ads, which they said were meant to compare Trump&rsquo;s words to Scripture, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Evangels4Amer\/status\/1843675524465299531\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">and vowed to defend themselves<\/a> in court if necessary. Months later, the group reversed course, removed the ads, and pledged not to use any further content featuring Billy Graham or materials from his organization without explicit permission.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3121552\/evangelicals-harris-ad-campaign-trump-faith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"EVANGELICALS FOR HARRIS AD CAMPAIGN USES TRUMP&rsquo;S COMMENTS ON FAITH AGAINST HIM\">EVANGELICALS FOR HARRIS AD CAMPAIGN USES TRUMP&rsquo;S COMMENTS ON FAITH AGAINST HIM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In their latest statement, Evangelicals for America emphasized that they did not intend to politicize Graham&rsquo;s legacy and praised his lifelong commitment to preaching. They stressed that his message was &ldquo;always clear: telling people about God&rsquo;s Son, Jesus Christ,&rdquo; rather than engaging in partisan politics.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We affirm its intellectual property rights&hellip; and its missional interest in protecting Rev. Graham&rsquo;s legacy,&rdquo; the group said. &ldquo;Evangelicals for America and its Directors have committed not to use content in electoral advocacy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2171051\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2171051\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Faith group apologizes for unauthorized Billy Graham ads<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2458198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Trump-Bible-2020-scaled-1-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32431,58858,5447,27724,4021],"class_list":["post-2458197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-2024-election","tag-anti-trump-ads","tag-apology","tag-evangelicals","tag-harris"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Trump-Bible-2020-scaled-1-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458197"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2458201,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458197\/revisions\/2458201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2458198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}