Dave Brat Hangs Out with Anti-LGBT, Anti-Muslim, Pro-Putin Evangelist Franklin Graham

Yep, this guy (pictured at right and below), Franklin Graham (who was just in Richmond a few days ago), is who far-right-wing Rep. Dave Brat was just hanging out with, praying with, etc. Here’s a first-hand account from a recent Graham rally in Raleigh, NC.

I’m standing outside the state Capitol, attempting to ascertain what’s on the minds of Franklin Graham’s disciples as we approach Election Day, when an old man wearing a cowboy hat lets me know who’s in charge.

He calls me a “fucking sodomite” and tells me he hopes I “burn in the fires of hell.”

But wait. I’m married, I tell him. To a woman. I have kids.

“Well, then, you’re a sodomite lover,” he snarls.

Let me point out that of all the horrid ways homosexuals are characterized in this country, the word “sodomite”—and the aggressive way it’s used—makes my blood boil. But I try to let it go. I’m here to do a job. It’s business, not personal.

Fast-forward a few minutes. It gets personal.

I’m talking to a sweet-looking little old lady who is attending the rally with her forty-six-year-old son. When he heard my line of questioning, he grabbed his mother by the arm.

“Look at his nose,” he says. “He’s a fucking Jew-boy. Don’t waste your time with him.” (Technically, my dad is Jewish, but my mom isn’t, so, according to Jewish law, I’m not actually a Jew.) But, I digress.

So those are some of Graham’s charming supporters. Also see here for more on Graham’s fascinating “thoughts” and comments over the years…

• “Graham, a supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, came under criticism for comments he made about Islam in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks when he referred to Islam as ‘a very evil and wicked religion.'”
• *On August 19, 2010, when asked by CNN correspondent John King if he had doubts that President Barack Obama is a Christian, Graham stated, ‘I think the president’s problem is that he was born a Muslim, his father was a Muslim. The seed of Islam is passed through the father like the seed of Judaism is passed through the mother. He was born a Muslim, his father gave him an Islamic name.'”
• “The Muslim Brotherhood is very strong and active in our country. It’s infiltrated every level of our government. Right now we have many of these people that are advising the US military and State Department on how to respond in the Middle East, and it’s like asking a fox, like a farmer asking a fox, ‘How do I protect my henhouse from foxes?’ We’ve brought in Muslims to tell us how to make policy toward Muslim countries. And many of these people we’ve brought in, I’m afraid, are under the Muslim Brotherhood.”
• “In a March 2011 interview with Newsmax, Graham said the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan ‘may be’ the second coming and Armageddon.”
• “Asked about Mitt Romney, Reverend Graham said that, most Protestants do not view Mormonism as a Christian faith.”
• “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.”
• “Graham responded to Obama’s May 9, 2012, statement of support for same-sex marriage, saying, ‘President Obama has, in my view, shaken his fist at the same God who created and defined marriage. It grieves me that our president would now affirm same-sex marriage, though I believe it grieves God even more.'”
• “Graham defended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stance against homosexuality, praising him for ‘protecting children from any homosexual agenda or propaganda.'”
• “Graham has commented on Hinduism as well, saying, ‘no elephant with 100 arms can do anything for me. None of their 9,000 gods is going to lead me to salvation'”.

Yep, that’s who supposed “libertarian” Dave Brat hangs out with, praises, etc. On November 8, make sure you vote for Democrat Eileen Bedell instead. Thanks.