28 Facts About Franklin Graham

William Franklin Graham III was born on July 14,1952 and is an American evangelist and missionary.

Franklin Graham frequently engages in Christian revival tours and political commentary.

Franklin Graham is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and of Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization.

Franklin Graham is a son of the American evangelist Billy Graham.

William Franklin Graham III was born in Asheville, North Carolina, on July 14,1952, to evangelist Billy Graham and Ruth Graham.

In 1970, Franklin Graham attended LeTourneau College in Longview, Texas, and was expelled from the school for keeping a female classmate out past curfew.

In 1973, Franklin Graham joined Bob Pierce, founder of Samaritan's Purse, on a six-week mission to Asia.

Franklin Graham was ordained in 1982 by the Grace Community Church in Tempe, Arizona, a non-denominational church.

Franklin Graham has cited the work of Samaritan's Purse in describing his support for the vaccine.

Franklin Graham has spoken of seeing the effects of the virus in his own organization.

Franklin Graham has made controversial remarks against Islam saying "True Islam cannot be practiced in this country", to CNN's Campbell Brown in December 2009.

In September 2010, Franklin Graham stated on ABC's This Week with Christiane Amanpour that building churches and synagogues is forbidden in most countries in the Islamic world.

Franklin Graham drew scrutiny in 2009 for drawing a full-time salary from Samaritan's Purse, while simultaneously receiving a full-time salary from Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Franklin Graham had contributions to his retirement plans suspended until the economy bounced back.

However, Franklin Graham was again criticized in 2015 when it was revealed he had again taken up his salary from BGEA, and that his annual compensation was significantly higher than that of the CEO's of similar but much larger non-profit organisations.

Franklin Graham was born a Muslim, his father gave him an Islamic name.

When Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court in March 2009, Franklin Graham argued in an op-ed in The New York Times that Bashir should not be indicted for alleged genocidal acts because the indictment would lead to the collapse of the 2005 peace agreement.

On President Obama, Franklin Graham said that he is "a fine man" but could not know whether the president was a Christian in his heart.

We were disturbed and disappointed by statements made by Rev Franklin Graham during an interview on MSNBC that questioned whether President Obama is a Christian.

Since the 2016 election, Franklin Graham has "become known, above all, as the most vociferous evangelical ally" of Trump.

Franklin Graham has strongly opposed the impeachment process, calling it an "unjust inquisition".

In January 2021, Franklin Graham compared the ten Republican members of the House of Representatives who voted to impeach Trump to Judas Iscariot, suggesting that the Democrats had promised them "thirty pieces of silver".

In 2017 Franklin Graham spoke against a bill proposing to ban conversion therapy.

Franklin Graham supported North Carolina Amendment 1, which was passed by a voter referendum on May 8,2012, prohibiting same-sex marriage and all domestic partnerships.

In December 2017, several British MPs urged the Home Secretary to consider refusing UK entry to Franklin Graham from speaking at an event due to take place in Blackpool in September 2018.

All venues booked for Franklin Graham's planned eight-city 2020 UK tour cancelled his booking after protests by LGBTQ+ activists, petitions and requests from local councils.

Many opponents said statements Franklin Graham had made were incompatible with their values, and that his appearance would be divisive, could be disruptive or lead to a breach of the peace.

Franklin Graham married Jane Austin Cunningham of Smithfield, North Carolina, in 1974.