Watch: Evangelicals Franklin Graham And Ralph Reed Bash Gays For Easter (Video)
For Easter, ABC News’ “This Week” hosted three top evangelical Christian leaders who spent a good portion of the segment obsessing over homosexuality, bashing gay people, and bearing false witness about same-sex couples raising children. The triumvirate at the table were Franklin Graham (image), the son of the 95-year old Rev. Billy Graham; Ralph Reed, the disgraced grifter, campaign finance law breaker, and Pat Robertson‘s former executive director of the Christian Coalition; and Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission who replaced the disgraced Richard Land in that role.
Host Martha Radditz invited Graham to “stand by” his recent infamous comments that gay people adopt children in order to sexually abuse them and to “recruit” them into homosexuality, and that Vladimir Putin signing his archaic anti-gay laws “was probably a pretty smart thing to do” in “protecting his nation’s children.” After watching video of himself making those comments, Graham was only too happy to stand by them. Graham trumpeted that President Putin thinks “taking advantage of children, exploiting children is wrong,” suggesting that gays are “taking advantage of children, exploiting children,” and that Barack Obama does not. He also added, “We used to have a president in this country who did what’s right for this country but we don’t seem to have that right now.”
Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart this morning called Graham “beneath contempt” and his comments “offensive” and “detestable.”
Moore pushed back only slightly, professing, “I agree that every child deserves both a mom and a dad.”
And then Ralph Reed pushed his way in, tossing to the table — and the millions of viewers watching across America — lies from the thoroughly-discredited Regnerus study. “And by the way, Martha, the social science on this is clear. This isn’t about Vladimir Putin, this is about what’s best for children here in the United States and the social science is irrefutable. And it is a child who grows up in a home without the mother and father present — and they both play very unique, procreative, nurturing, and socializing role — they’re nine times more likely to end up dropping out of high school, they’re five times more likely to end up in poverty, and they’re three times more likely to end up addicted to drugs and alcohol.”
//www.youtube.com/embed/H9a6qIyK7YI?start=308&end=520
Of course, most of America doesn’t know that just last month a federal judge who presided over a case on same-sex marriage in Michigan sat listening to the state’s lead witness, Mark Regnerus, and concluded that the “Court finds Regnerus’s testimony entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration, and that Regnerus “certainly cannot purport to have undertaken a scholarly research effort to compare the outcomes of children raised by same-sex couples with those of children raised by heterosexual couples.”
But Ralph Reed chose to tell falsehoods about gay people by couching them in the phrase, “a child who grows up in a home without the mother and father present,” while talking about same-sex couples raising children.
Cokie Roberts stepped in and took Reed to task.
“But the social science is also irrefutable that a child raised in an orphanage is in much worse shape than a child raised in a home,” the ABC News anchor told Reed. “And the fact that people are willing to take these children and raise them, and raise them in a loving way is clearly better for these children.”
His response?
“I think the social science is just simply not in yet on same-sex couples and I think the law has every right to set an ideal. And the ideal is a mother and a father.”
Reed of course is lying out of both sides of his mouth.
From one side, he spouts Regnerus “facts,” which have nothing to do with gay parents, and from the other, “the social science is just simply not in yet on same-sex couples.” Which is it?
Meanwhile, the social science is in on same-sex couples.
Every major medical association has stated that children raised by same-sex parents turn out no different than their peers raised by different-sex parents.
“Decades of social science research also confirms that children of same-sex parents have similar levels of psychological adjustment and are no more likely than their peers raised by heterosexual parents to report behavioral issues. All of the leading national child welfare and social service organizations agree that children raised by lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents are just as happy, healthy, and well-adjusted as children raised by different-sex parents. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, Child Welfare League of America, and National Association of Social Workers all have published organizational statements confirming that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people make excellent parents who raise developmentally healthy children.”
— March 4, 2014, Amici Curiae Brief Of Family Equality Council, Colage, Voices For Utah Children, And The Children’s Center Of Salt Lake City, Kitchen v. Herbert.
Hat tip: Daily Kos and Mediaite
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A furious President Donald Trump has fired the Commissioner of Labor Statistics following a dismal June jobs report that showed only 73,000 new jobs added and downward revisions of more than 250,000 for April and May.
“I was just informed that our Country’s ‘Jobs Numbers’ are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer,” Trump wrote in a social media post, baselessly accusing her of having “faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is an independent statistical agency and part of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Claiming that the Bureau had “overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000,” Trump wrote: “These were Records — No one can be that wrong?”
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“I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,” he vowed. “Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.”
“McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months,” he noted.
Trump then also called for the termination of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, despite having claimed he does not plan to fire him before his term ends next year.
“The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP’ despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting ‘Kamala’ elected – How did that work out? Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should also be put ‘out to pasture.’ Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
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Democracy Docket reported that McEntarfer’s “firing raises the threat of political interference in U.S. economic data, which economists warn would undermine confidence in the economy.”
The media outlet called her dismissal “part of Trump’s ongoing efforts to take control of traditionally independent federal agencies, and to use them for political gain.”
Critics blasted the move.
“Unquestionably the most dangerous and corrupt attack on the independence of US economic data in American history,” wrote Joey Politano, who writes the economics Substack Apricitas Economics. “Trump is firing the head of the BLS, [a] longtime civil servant confirmed 86-8 by the Senate, simply because the job numbers came in below his expectations today.”
Arin Dube, Provost Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, issued this warning:
“Firing the Commissioner of Labor Statistics when the BLS revises jobs numbers down (as it routinely does) threatens to destroy trust in core American institutions, and all government statistics. I can’t stress how damaging this is.”
Journalist and author Charles Fishman noted, “Trump doesn’t like Friday’s official job statistics. Trump fires career labor economist who is Commissioner of Labor Statistics. This is what authoritarianism looks like. Don’t like reality? Fire the person, insist on a new reality. Completely undermines trust in gov’t data.”
Journalist Brian J. Karem wrote: “Remember the part about ‘shooting the messenger’? This is a real Third World, Russian or North Korean propaganda move. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen Don. You don’t get to burn down the house.”
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) declared, “Breaking: Kill the messenger.”
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Image via Reuters
In what is being called an “escalating war of words,” President Donald Trump announced in a social media post that he is repositioning two nuclear submarines in response to an apparent threat made by the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev. Some see Trump’s move as a distraction from the bad news of the week, including the ongoing Epstein files scandal and Friday’s poor jobs report.
Medvedev, who served as President of Russia, denounced Trump’s deadline for Russia to end its illegal war against Ukraine this week as a “step towards war,” Fox News reported.
Calling Medvedev’s remarks “highly provocative statements,” Trump announced: “I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.”
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Trump did not state where the “appropriate regions” are.
“Words are very important,” he declared, “and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”
Military.com’s Konstantin Toropin called it “an incredibly rare move” that “the President publicly announces that two US nuclear submarines are apparently poised to strike Russia.”
“Important note,” he added, “all US subs are nuclear so it’s not immediately clear if Trump is communicating a nuclear or conventional deterrent here.”
Critics weighed in.
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HuffPost Senior White House correspondent S.V. Dáte noted: “1) Remember when he claimed that Biden and Harris would get us into WWIII? 2) Normally the US does not breathe one word, not one syllable, about the location of the Navy’s missile boats. 3) 77 million Americans voted for this. 4) How far will he go to distract from Epstein?”
MeidasTouch News editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski wrote: “Probably just a coincidence that Trump announces he’s stationing two nuclear subs off Russia because of war threats just hours after the worst jobs report in 5 years just dropped.”
“Trump spent every day for 4 years saying that Biden was about to start World War 3 and if he got elected he would end the war in Ukraine and we would have peace with Russia because he has a great relationship with Putin,” Filipkowski added.
Podcaster Fred Wellman, an Army veteran of 22 years, responded to the news with: “Wow. Epstein.”
“How Trump went from ‘wouldn’t it be great to get along with Russia’ to deploying nuclear subs in response to Medvedev is a tale of astonishing Russian diplomatic failure,” noted The Daily Telegraph’s Chief foreign affairs commentator David Blair.
READ MORE: Trump Responsible for Rising Prices, High Cost of Living, Most Americans Say: Report
Image via Reuters
With inflation and unemployment rising, a majority of Americans say President Donald Trump is to blame for increased prices and the high cost of living, as many turn to credit cards and other high-interest vehicles to pay for their purchases, a new poll finds. Some are skipping meals just to make ends meet, some spend time daily worrying about how they are going to pay their bills, and many are forced to turn to friends and family for financial support.
“American families are struggling financially, and 6 in 10 place blame on Donald Trump for driving up their cost of living,” reported progressive think tank The Century Foundation, with data from a Morning Consult poll that it sponsored. “More than half believe that billionaires, corporations, and congressional Republicans have made their lives harder,” while the “majority of voters feel the Trump administration’s actions are making their problems and anxieties worse—not better.”
Overall, a staggering four out of five Americans (83%) are concerned about the cost of groceries, including 46% who say they are “very concerned.”
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Almost half (47%) worry about being able to pay their rent or mortgage, almost one in four say it would be difficult to pay for an unexpected home or medical emergency—and many would have trouble paying even a $500 expense.
“This financial insecurity is widespread across demographic and income groups—although it is more pronounced among groups such as younger Americans, Americans of color, women, and lower-income Americans,” the report stated.
For many Americans, anxiety about money is a daily experience, and a large majority worry that things are going to get worse.
“A shocking 1 in 4 Americans (24 percent) say they spend at least three hours on a typical day worrying about their finances and ability to afford basic necessities. More than 4 in 10 spend at least one hour per day,” according to the report. “While low- and middle-income Americans express the strongest financial concerns, one-third of those with incomes above $100,000 also spend at least an hour concerned about their finances on a typical day.”
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President Donald Trump’s tariffs are a major concern for many Americans as well.
49% believe Trump’s tariffs will make the cost of goods made overseas more expensive, and nearly seven in ten say they believe Trump’s tariffs will increase prices.
The Century Foundation published video detailing its findings.
Watch the video below or at this link.
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Image via Reuters
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