Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Unfortunate Picture with Donald Trump

Jerry Falwell, Jr., president of Liberty University, had an interesting photo taken with his wife and Trump. Falwell was an early endorser of Trump and was able to introduce him at Trump’s Tuesday pow wow with evangelicals and other social conservatives. He probably should have cropped the Playboy Magazine cover behind his wife out before tweeting the picture because nothing cries “family values” like a Playboy cover on the wall.

Honored to introduce @realDonaldTrump at religious leader summit in NYC today! He did incredible job! @beckifalwell pic.twitter.com/e2eBSbQwb0

— Jerry Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) June 21, 2016

Falwell tweeted his response to criticism over the magazine cover.

https://twitter.com/JerryJrFalwell/status/745443179080495105

Being a friend to sinners and endorsing a moral reprobate for President are two different things don’t you think? The first is positive. The second, not so much. Yes the magazine was decades old, but most people don’t have Playboy Magazine covers hanging on their wall. Most people don’t have a wall of pride as a tribute to themselves either, but that is a entirely different matter.

Personally I think judging someone’s faith because of a picture like this is ridiculous. I’m more concerned about Falwell’s endorsement, especially when there were far better candidates in the race at the time. In the larger scheme of things this picture is minor.

That said, I believe comparing people who pointed the picture out to Falwell with Pharisees is nonsensical. I have to wonder how Liberty University would handle pictures of their students being taken with various contraband in the background whether it was theirs or not.

Hopefully they would enjoy the same grace that Falwell expects, perhaps they are just being a friend to sinners as well.