THE CASH COMMENTARY FOR APRIL 9, 2026

                                                                   CASH MICHAELS

                                             A SHAME AND A DISGRACE

by Cash Michaels

In the quaint little home that my lovely wife and I share, hangs the U.S. Air Force uniform hat once proudly worn by her late father, a lieutenant colonel, right over his official portrait. And near the base of a staircase in our home is the neatly-folded American flag that the Air Force solemnly gave her mother upon his death.

Neither the Air Force uniform hat nor the folded American flag specifically denote the fact that my wife’s father was a proud Black man who served his country with dignity during both the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War. They just prove that he was a distinguished and dedicated officer in our United States military.

Like so many other proud African-American members of the U.S. military, all he ever asked for from his country was a fair opportunity to serve, and to be treated like anyone else who had earned his country’s respect.

So the subject of African-Americans in the military who selflessly serve our country is a sensitive one for me. First, I’m immensely proud of their service, proud that despite a tattered history of mistreatment by the country they obviously love, they historically have put their lives on the line for it, ready to give their last measure, just like their white counterparts. In that context, there is no difference between white blood and black blood, especially during a time of war.

Both are precious when they are shed to guarantee the freedom our Constitution says we’re all entitled to.

When I think of such noteworthy and heroic African-American patriots like Crispus Attucks; Peter Salem; William Carney; the Buffalo Soldiers; the 369th Infantry Harlem Hellfighters; the Tuskegee Airmen; Navy Cross winner Dorie Miller (the hero of Pearl Harbor); the Six-Triple-Eight All-Black Female Army Battalion; the 761st Tank Battalion; Generals Benjamin O. Davis Sr. and Jr.; Air Force Four-Star Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr.; Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Colin Powell; Four-Star Army General/Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin; Marine Corps Four-Star Gen. Michael E. Langley, and many other Americans of color who served and so loved a country that did not love them back, I can only express pride in their sacrifices, courage and contributions to this nation.

Who would I point to out of the many brave Black men and women who proudly served in our US military in terms of being the pinnacle of military excellence? It would have to be Four-Star General Colin Powell, who, beyond serving as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also rose to the level of National Security Advisor and Secretary of State.

The child of poor Jamaican immigrants raised in the Bronx and Harlem, NY, Powell, by his very life and career, showed that the US military (which he joined in 1958 after it was desegregated in 1948) was a place where African-Americans, despite the racism of the time,  could historically succeed, and show that they are as skilled, dedicated to service, and honorable as any other American in uniform.

In his 1995 autobiography, Powell, who died in 2021 after complications from COVID, wrote about being Black in the military:

“I did not feel inferior, and I was not going to let anybody make me believe I was. I was not going to allow someone else's feelings about me to become my feelings about myself. Racism was not just a black problem. It was America's problem. And until the country solved it, I was not going to let bigotry make me a victim instead of a full human being. I occasionally felt hurt; I felt anger; but most of all I felt challenged.”

Colin Powell was a patriot AND a proud Black man. History can never say otherwise.

Now, enter Pete “Unhinged” Hegeseth - a modern-day racist, sexist and disgraceful Trump failure.

This clown wants so badly to be seen as a man’s man, it’s pathetic. He refers to himself as the “Secretary of War” of the “Department of War.” In fact, Hegeseth is a prominent stooge of Donald Trump who is as qualified to be leading our superb US military, as a size four foot is qualified to fit into a size ten shoe.

By now you know that Hegeseth is a loudmouth who used to co-host the weekend edition of the right-wing Fox and Friends TV show. Apparently there was at least one fan always watching, and that fan, Trump, offered Hegeseth the job of heading up the US Defense Dept. if he were to be re-elected to the presidency. 

And what were Pete’s qualifications for such an important Cabinet post beyond -ss-kissing loyalty?

Besides serving as a US Army major in the Minnesota Army National Guard 

at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, he also headed up some veterans organizations. So Hegeseth never wore a general’s or admiral’s star, or did anything to define himself as a seasoned military leader worthy of even shining a real general’s shoes.

On the downside, this clown conservative is on the record opposing women in the military (says standards were lowered for them) and believing Blacks in the military don’t measure up (because of DEI); in 2017, he had to pay $50,000 to settle a sexual assault claim (he maintains what allegedly happened was “consensual”); has a documented drinking problem and is a tattooed believer in a Christian Nationalist sect that may have white supremacist connections. 

Hegeseth’s a wannabe, and yet there he is, an embarrassing testament to Donald Trump’s lineup of loyalty puppets who follow his every whim.

I’ve previously nailed Hegeseth for “proudly posting videos of his “Christian” pastor extolling the virtues of denying women the right to vote, vowing to re-erect torn down Confederate statues (remember, he re-renamed Fort Bragg after a Confederate general), and sent secret attack plans to other top government officials via open commercial chat rooms.”

That’s what makes Hegeseth so troubling. This clown isn’t serving his country. He’s serving his master.  It explains his careless bigotry against women and African-Americans who’ve earned their way up the ranks. 

Approximately 43% of active-duty military are people of color, but the upper echelon of leadership is sadly lacking. Trump and Pete want to keep it that way.

And now, in the middle of a war, old “Unhinged” Hegeseth has borrowed one of those infamous executive order black markers from his boss, and unceremoniously crossed out the names of four qualified and vetted military candidates for one-star general that were headed to the Senate for approval.

Four - reportedly two Black and two female colonels. And per reporting from The NY Times, there are “more than a dozen” other senior military officers based on race, gender “or perceived ties to the Biden Administration” across all four branches of the US military he has allegedly intervened to block or delay promotion of in recent months.

Well-earned, qualified promotions that are normally determined by independent review boards. Defense secretaries traditionally don’t get involved.

And when the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George asked to meet with Sec. Hegeseth about blocking those candidates, not only did Pete refuse, but he fired the man.

Remember last September when Pete told several hundred military leaders at Quantico that, “For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts?” he bellowed, with Trump listening and approving just off-stage.

“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris,” he declared, adding that the US military will be returned to the “highest male standard.”

It's Pete and Trump’s political “War on Woke,” which includes firing the previous chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who was a Black general; the Navy’s top commander, who was a woman; and anybody else who supported an inclusive culture in the US military.

Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of NY, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wants an investigation into the Hegeseth racial and sexist bias mess of blocking military promotions.

“Public reports allege that these holds may have been motivated by political ideology, inappropriate bias, or immutable and constitutionally protected characteristics rather than merit,” Sen. Gillibrand wrote in an April 3rd letter to her committee’s Republican chairman. “Military advancement must remain strictly meritocratic and based on performance.”

        I couldn't agree more!

For the record, a “Dept. of War” spokesman disputes all of this, telling NBC News, "Under Secretary Hegseth, military promotions are given to those who have earned them. Meritocracy, which reigns in this Department, is apolitical and unbiased."

        Yeah, as long as they're lily white, conservative Christian and male.

Y’all can talk about the outgoing US Attorney General Pam Bondi and gone-girl former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem (you know, the wacked woman who enjoys shooting puppies and whose husband reportedly likes to cross-dress) all you want. After insanely unqualified and undisciplined FBI Director Kash Patel is also shown the door by a fed-up Trump, I’m hoping the days of “Sec. Of War” Pete Hegeseth are also numbered.

But I fear Trump won’t fire Pete for being disloyal (because Lord knows Hegeseth licks the back of Trump’s boots shiny clean), but because he’ll figure out that he really doesn’t need all the trouble that Pete brings.

Our military was gold standard long before Hegeseth took over, and it will remain so after he’s gone. The only reason Trump keeps him around is because he’s tired of having his military leaders telling him what he can’t, or shouldn’t do. 

        But with General Dan Cain, the current chair of the Joint Chiefs, who is also loyal and onboard, what does Trump need goofy-as-hell Hegeseth to share the spotlight with anymore? Cain might be whispering in Trump's ear now. Wouldn't put it past him.

With a war crimes-prone, genocidal-likely president threatening to wipeout Iranian civilization, and lying to the world that Iranian civilians actually want to be wiped out, and profanely swearing to do so in the name of  “Allah” making this a bona fide Holy War, it is very clear that “Unhinged” Hegespeth has neither the brains, gravitas, nor decency to tell his boss to stop misusing our military this way.

         Now comes the accusation that Hegeseth “…is not speaking the truth to the president,” according to reporting from The Washington Post. Apparently Pete has been telling Trump for weeks that the Iranians are on their last leg militarily and couldn’t hurt a flea, only to have an F-15E fighter jet downed by an Iranian handheld missile, resulting in a wounded airman missing for 48 hours before he was found last weekend. An A-10 warthog aircraft was also brought down, embarrassing Pete and Trump after their ‘superiority of the skies” B.S.

Trump was out there repeating all sorts of inaccurate nonsense about Iran’s military capabilities, primarily relying on explosion videos from his “secretary of war.”

That’s the problem with a crazy sycophant like Pete. He always tells you what you want to hear, not what you actually need to know. And the Trump Administration, sadly,  is full of these people.

        The price of gas and groceries under Trump and Pete Hegeseth's war has gone way, way up. But the cost of human dignity and truth, has gone way, way down.

And from where I stand, THAT is a shame and disgrace!

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THE CASH STUFF FOR APRIL 9, 2026

                                                                     CARRIE EVERETT

FORMER MISS NORTH CAROLINA,

CARRIE EVERETT, DIES OF CANCER

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

The first Miss North Carolina winner to ever attend an HBCU, Carrie Everett, died Easter Sunday after a courageous battle with a rare form of cancer.

She was just 22.

Ms. Everett, the fourth Black woman ever to win the title since 1937, won the crown in June 2024 during her sophomore year at North Carolina Central University in Durham. As a vocal performance major known for her “vibrant spirit and dedication to her dreams,” the Seattle native had planned to graduate NCCU in 2027. 

        NCCU Chancellor Dr. Karrie G.Dixon issued a statement in tribute saying, "Carrie selected NCCU because of the university's music program -- she enjoyed singing gospel music -- and regularly graced NCCU occasions with her beautiful singing voice. Her ambition, grace, tenacity and talent will be deeply missed."

        It was while visiting family in Seattle in July 2025 that Ms. Everett was diagnosed with metastatic signet ring cell carcinoma, a rare but aggressive form of gastric cancer. “This is happening for a reason, and God has allowed me to use my voice to give a voice to others,” she said will undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments, vowing to fight the cancer as hard as she could, while also continuing to give back to the community. 

    Late on April 5th in Seattle, Ms. Everett gave up her battle against the cancer that was robbing her of her young life of promise.

    The Miss North Carolina Organization issued a statement saying, “Carrie forcefully utilized the platform offered by the Miss North Carolina title to encourage students in historically black colleges and universities to take advantage of the scholarship and professional opportunities afforded by the Miss America program. She also challenged minority and socially marginalized students to focus on goal setting and personal development, setting their sights high. Her untimely passing silences a strong voice for social justice but her impact will continue to live on in the lives she touched."

In 2024 when she first won the Miss North Carolina title, Miss Everett said, “I can be the first but not the last,” referencing being the first contestant from an HBCU crowned. “I want young women from all over the state and throughout the country attending HBCUs to know that this opportunity is for them.”

When the former Miss North Carolina won in 2024 as Miss Johnston County, a statement from the pageant read, “It is easy to see how the judges fell in love with Carrie. “…she is dynamically confident, kind, witty, talented and has the kind of superstar personality one can only wish for in a titleholder and sister.”

Ms. Everett took the pageant by storm with her stirring rendition of Jennifer Holiday’s “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from the awardwinning hit Broadway musical “Dreamgirls.”

But Carrie Everett was more than just a captivating singer. As a rising sophomore in 2024, she promoted her “We Need Equity to Build Communities” community service imitative during the Miss NC competition.

“When I registered to compete this year, I only had $40 in my pocket,” she said then. “That is the reality of many young women in this country. I believe in the Miss America Opportunity, what it has done  and what it continues to do for many young women like me. With this title, I am empowered and ready to facilitate a new culture of equity within this brand.”

Carrie Everett never was crowned Miss America as she once dreamed, yet her family and friends say her legacy of empowerment and equity continues to inspire.

        “The family is spending time together as they celebrate her memory," Carrie’s family said in a statement. "They ask that you continue to pray for them [and] celebrate her memory."

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 WHAT HAPPENS NOW AFTER NC

SUPREME COURT REVERSED

LEANDRO RULING?

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Does the state of North Carolina have a constitutional duty to ensure that every child is provided with a “sound, basic education,” and does the state Supreme Court have the authority to order the state legislature on how to spend funds if the court has determined that lawmakers have been derelict in their constitutional duty?

Those two questions were answered last week by the Republican-majority NC Supreme Court when it reversed a ruling by what was then a Democratic-led state Supreme Court in 2022 that held that the state historically had not ensured the “sound, basic education” of every school student in North Carolina, and ordered the NC General Assembly to enact a comprehensive remedial plan by making required eight-year phased-in expenditures that would amount to billions to fix the problem.

In what has become known for more than thirty years as the Leandro case - named after the first plaintiff family to join with the Hoke County Board of Education to file suit against the state in 1994 -  Republican Chief Justice Paul Newby led the mostly party-line 4-3 split decision to reverse the 2022 ruling, writing for the Republican majority, “What began as modest, as-applied challenges to the allocation of educational resources in the named school districts became a full-scale, facial assault on the entire educational system enacted by the General Assembly. When this case ceased to be about the as-applied claims raised in the complaints and refined by this Court’s decisions, the trial court’s authority to hear the case likewise ceased.”

TRANSLATION - because of separation of powers, state courts have no authority telling the state legislature how to spend taxpayer money, and thus, should not have directed lawmakers to spend billions of dollars to improve the state’s poorest schools, even if it was to ensure a constitutionally guaranteed “sound, basic education ” for poor children.

A spokesperson for Republican House Speaker Destin Hall (R - Caldwell) said in a statement, “Today’s decision rightly recognizes the constitutional role of the North Carolina General Assembly, since the state Constitution entrusts sole appropriations authority to the legislature.”

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger (R - Rockingham) also celebrated the ruling.

"For decades, liberal education special interests have improperly tried to hijack North Carolina's constitutional funding process in order to impose their policy preferences via judicial fiat.”

But Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, was not pleased with the state Supreme Court decision, and vowed to continue to fight for better teachers’ pay and more education improvements to help especially poor students learn.

"Education opens doors of opportunity for children, but today the Court slammed them in the face of students who deserve the right to a sound basic public education,” Stein said in a statement. “The Supreme Court simply ignored its own established precedent, enabling the General Assembly to continue to deprive another generation of North Carolina students of the education promised by our Constitution.” 

Last week’s ruling - in which one Republican justice joined the two Democratic justices in dissenting - means the public schools across the state will not receive an additional hundreds of millions in education funding from the state. And since a Union County Democratic judge ruled in 2021 that the state transfer $1.7 billion to public schools, thanks to subsequent litigation, not a dime of that $1.7 billion was ever distributed.

As a matter of law, experts say, the Leandro case is now considered dead, and cannot be resurrected.

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NC JOINS LAWSUIT 

AGAINST TRUMP’S

ORDER AGAINST 

MAIL-IN BALLOTS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

In the African-American community, the ability to cast a mail-in ballot is important to those who cannot make it to the voting polls on Election Day, like many of the elderly, those who suffer from an affliction that limits their ability to travel, those who are struggling in the aftermath of a natural disaster, those who will be out of town, as well as active duty personnel who serve in the military.

But if Pres. Trump has his way, mail-in ballots for future elections will no longer be an option, even though that is the mode of voting he admittedly uses.

“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It's horrible what's going on,” Trump said, though no such widespread “cheating” has ever been proven. “I think this will help a lot with elections.”

The president wants a nationwide list of verifiable eligible voters, and wants the mail-in voting restrictions in place before this fall’s midterm elections.

Trump is threatening the withholding of federal funding from Democratic states that don’t comply.

More than 20 states don’t agree with the Republican president, and have filed suit in federal court to stop an executive order Trump has issued outlawing mail-in ballots, calling it an “unconstitutional power grab.”

“The president’s latest attempt to interfere with the states’ administration of their elections is as unprecedented as it is unconstitutional,” the suit, filed last week, states.. “Under our Constitution, the president has no authority to restrict voter eligibility or mail voting to lists of voters pre-authorized by the federal government.”

North Carolina State General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, has joined those states in telling the courts that Trump has no constitutional authority over the election process, and thus, cannot stop mail-in ballots. Only the states can. 

Saying that he’s acting in particular to safeguard the voting rights of active duty military personnel, AG Jackson said in a statement, “Under current law, we can request and receive absentee ballots up until the day before the election, which matters because deployments can happen fast. Under this executive order, our absentee ballots would run a very high risk of being rejected by the post office — essentially thrown in the trash — if we deploy within 60 days of the election. That is unacceptable.” 

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THE CASH COMMENTARY FOR APRIL 2, 2026

                                                                    CASH MICHAELS  

        AN OPEN LETTER TO FRANKLIN GRAHAM

                                             By Cash Michaels  

To Evangelist Franklin Graham:

First, please allow me to wish you and yours Almighty GOD’s most precious blessings during this Holy Week, when Christians around the world commemorate the solemn crucifixion, and celebrate the joyful resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.   

I have a special place in my heart for men/women of the cloth and the vital service they provide our communities. Ministers are those special breed of servant-leaders whose singular job is to bring souls to Christ, souls that seek salvation from a world darkened and corrupted by sin. Ministers are the Lord’s anointed vessels through which we hear His Word, and commit our lives to serving GOD, doing His Will, and combating evil wherever it may rear its ugly head.

Ever since I was a child, I’ve been raised to love GOD with all of my heart, and fight the sin of evil and injustice, and I’m so grateful that GOD Almighty has given me the heart and voice to do it with.

But as a Christian, I just don’t understand where you as a man of GOD are coming from when it comes to your unabashed support of Donald Trump, and I probably never will.

Yes, normally I’m all for supporting the president of the United States, the leader of the Free World and most powerful man on this planet, when he has exhibited some degree of decency, honesty and determination to respect and serve we the people, and the rule of law.

And of course, if the president is a man who truly loves GOD, and counts on His spiritual wisdom and guidance to see him through the inevitable tough challenges of the office, then there is no question this is a selfless leader of the people who undoubtedly deserves our prayers as he leads us.

So yes, I support the president I’ve just described above.

However you, Evangelist Graham, a nationally prominent man of GOD, do not. Instead, you support Donald Trump, and I’m confused as to why. If you and I read and understand the same Bible, and believe in and understand the same Christian GOD, then I remain confused, sir.

Recently at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), you spoke, and among the things you said was, “God loves you. He loves his country. And I love Donald Trump! Is he perfect? No. But I love that guy! I love him. And we’ll only have one chance at this. We’ll never get another president like Donald Trump! Never! 

“Thank you! And that’s why it’s important that we do everything that we can to try to get him reelected! He stands not only for religious freedom, he stands up for Christians, like no president we’ve ever had.”

For the record, by now you certainly know that Trump cannot be re-elected to office (not legally anyway), so you obviously misspoke. But according to a statement from your spokesman, Mark Barber, “President Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot, his policies are.” Mr. Graham intended to say the president’s policies should be reelected—not that the president should be reelected.”

So I’m compelled to ask, Evangelist Graham, exactly what policies of the Trump Administration are you urging conservatives to “re-elect”?

Is it the policy of starting wars, like the one the guy you “love” recently started with Iran for reasons that in the opinion of most observers, are dubious as best?

Am I to assume since you “love” Donald Trump, and apparently “love” his policies by proxy, then you must also love what his Secretary of War Pete Hegeseth recently prayed for during a “Dept. of War” Christian worship service, “Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation.”

Hegeseth, who is clearly unhinged, sir, also asked GOD for “overwhelming violence.”

Apparently another man of GOD did not appreciate Sec. Hegeseth’s reckless prayer. His name is Pope Leo XIV, and during his Palm Sunday Mass homily at the Vatican last Sunday, the leader of the Catholic Church said the Iran War started by the president you told attendees at a partisan political convention you “love” was “atrocious.”

"This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” the pontiff continued."(Jesus) does not ⁠listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: 'Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands ⁠are full of blood.”

I’m not Catholic, but given the choice of listening to either Pete Hegeseth, Pope Leo or Donald Trump on the subject of war, I choose Pope Leo hands down. Not because I “love” the man, but because I love GOD, and believe that Pope Leo is carrying out GOD's “policies”, just as Hegeseth is carrying out Trump’s.

For me, it is an easy choice.

Evangelist Graham, please tell me, what other Trump public policies do you want to see “re-elected”? Perhaps you want to see more policies like his so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill,” you know, the law Trump’s Republican Congress passed last year that tremendously helped rich people, and deliberately hurt poor people in this country by slashing government spending on Medicaid (health insurance) and SNAP (food assistance).

As someone who leads a prominent global faith-based charitable nonprofit organization, Samaritan’s Purse, which is supposed to be dedicated to helping to feed the poor, how can you possibly “love” a Trump policy that further hurts the poor? When the Trump Administration stopped USAID, your organization, which I can only assume is doing good work across the world, lost $13 million. When you were asked about how you felt about that, you defended the USAID cut, instead of defending the needed funds for the fine work you were doing. I don’t understand that.

         1 John 3:17 is one of many Bible passages that tells us, “But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?”

Then there are the Trump public policies on voting, where we see he is trying to limit our right through his insane Save America Act; Trump’s policies on race, where his administration is actively destroying civil rights law that guided employment, college campuses, scientific research, museum and educational history, etc.; Trump’s demeaning policies on immigration, where some of the poorest people on the planet make their way to our great and prosperous country seeking freedom and opportunity, only to be treated like criminals and forced to be rounded up and caged like animals.

Whatever happened to Christ’s commandment in Matthew 25:35, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” 

Or did you not get to that part of the Bible yet?

I could go on about Trump’s lies and divisiveness, his viciousness and pure hatred towards those who opposed him and rightfully brought him to justice, and of course his insufferable self-idolatry, but all any of it would prove is that this man is no different than any of those evil kings from the Old Testament, who Almighty GOD preferred to destroy rather than shamefully pat on the head like you’re doing with Trump.

Of course I don’t expect you to ever hate President Trump, but I do expect you, as a professed man of GOD, to hate the sins he’s clearly committed, the sins he’s obviously hiding, and the pain that he’s caused, and continues to cause innocent people.

You once said about Trump when he talked about going to Heaven, “We all have the promise of eternal life if we repent of our sins, trust Him by faith, and make Him the Lord of our lives” So has Trump repented recently? I’ve seen no evidence of this.

I guess that’s what separates you from your legendary father, Evangelist Billy Graham,”America’s pastor”, a great man of GOD who sought to unite people with his worldwide ministry, not choose political sides. Pres. Jimmy Carter once said of your father “His reputation is above reproach or suspicion.”

In 1954, Time Magazine called your father “the best-known, most talked-about Christian leader in the world today, barring the Pope.”

A devout man of GOD who counseled presidents from both sides of the political divide, not “love” one or his policies over the other. Your father once joined with Pres. Eisenhower in denouncing Communism, and helped him become a Presbyterian when he learned that “Ike” had never been baptized.

A far cry from the “love” you bestow on Donald Trump today.

Evangelist Billy Graham was a preacher of the highest integrity. During the ’60’s civil rights movement, upon advice from his friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., your father refused to allow his crusade audiences to be segregated in the Deep South, saying that Jesus was the GOD of all men. Dr. King once said, “Had it not been for the ministry of my good friend Dr. Billy Graham, my work in the Civil Rights Movement would not have been as successful as it has been.”

Dr. King also said that when it came to politics, “I feel that someone must remain in the position of (political) nonalignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both - not the servant or master of either.”

Given King’s relationship with both presidents Kennedy and Johnson, I think history shows that he walked the walked the walk. Dr. King never lowered himself ever to say he “loved” any president to get what he wanted. He paid due respect, but did the work irrespective of political party, and publicly criticized Pres, Johnson, for instance, over the Vietnam War.

Historian Grant Wacker, who has researched your father extensively, says you have “ … politicized the message in a way that [your] father, at least in his later years, would find abhorrent, and that aspect of Franklin Graham’s work will harm the legacy.”

Where is your voice, Evangelist Graham, on the issues of the day, on this despicable war, on the murders of American citizens in the name border security by federal agents, on the crass and wonton racism promoted by the president you so love?

Americans are suffering, Mr. Graham, suffering at the hands of a brattish, dangerous narcissist who craves ruling the world at any and all costs, and believes he has the power to do it. You told Trump in an Oct. 15, 2025 letter that “God requires us to turn from our sins and, by faith believe in our heart that Jesus came to earth, died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and God raised Him to life on the third day.”

I see absolutely no signs, sir, that Pres. Trump has even tried to turn from his evil ways, or renounce the wickedness he continues to haunt the nation and the world with. 

Why aren’t you joining the likes of Bishop William Barber, Rev. (and US Senator) Raphael Warnock, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Mariann Edgar Budde and other nationally respected members of the clergy in speaking out against the unquestionable evil that so many see in this country from Trump and his ungodly policies? Doesn’t cause for you to be a Democrat or a liberal to speak to and oppose the inhumanity of this man?

Is GOD telling you to support Trump? Then why isn’t He telling these other Christian ministers to support Trump the same way?

Perhaps the answer lies in the power that apparently you and other conservative Christian nationalists feel that you have through Trump, and that power is a strong weapon against those you politically don’t like.

If that’s true, it’s sad, because I believe that the GOD we’re all suppose to serve expects more, and better of us. I’m sure you’ve heard all of the above criticism before about your political leanings. The question is, why aren’t you listening? 

A good friend of mine who knew I would be writing this open letter to you, Evangelist Graham, sent me something I think is extremely worthy to end this missive to you with.

“Two people you should never trust: a preacher telling you how to vote, and a politician telling you how to pray!”

Please tell me Evangelist Franklin Graham, which one are you?

        Happy Easter!

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