Pro-Harris group apologizes for using Billy Graham in 2024 campaign ads
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The Evangelical Christian group “Evangelicals for America”- formerly “Evangelicals for Harris”- apologized to public excuses on Tuesday for having used Evangelist fire images The Reverend Billy Graham in political advertisements supporting the former vice-president Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.
In a press release published on social networks, the group acknowledged that it had not obtained authorization from the Billy Graham Evangelisc Association (BGEA) before using the clips.
“In the forecast of the 2024 presidential election, the Evangelicals for America Pac“ `Evangelicals for Harris ” campaign produced several advertisements using reverend Billy Graham clips. We made us believed that our use of the Reverend Graham clips, although this is not done with the previous permission of the Billy Graham (BGEA), could meet the criterants for the faad of the fact of the factory actory (BGEA).
The BGEA opposed advertisements, saying that the group had broken its copyright using Graham video clips for political purposes without consent.
Images of the preaching of Billy Graham were used in the announcements of a pro-Harris evangelical group during the 2024 campaign. (Getty Images)
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“Our intention was not to infringe the copyright of BGEA or to give the impression that the Reverend Graham would have taken sides to publicly support a political candidate on another during an election, we therefore apologize to BGEA,” said the evangelicals for Harris.
The controversy began after the group published a series of attacks against Trump who used images of evangelist fire.
An advertisement juxtaposed Graham’s preaching on the confession with an interview of 2015 in which Trump said that he was not sure if he had already asked God.
Reverend Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and president of Samaritan’s Purse and the BGEA, publicly criticized efforts at the time.
The president and chief executive officer of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Franklin Graham speaks on the last day of the National Republican Convention of 2024 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 18, 2024. ((Photo of Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images))))))
Christians “evangelicals for Harris” “politically shelter” to support the Democrat in November
“Liberals use everything they can to promote the candidate Harris. They have even developed a political announcement trying to use the image of my father @ billygraham,” wrote Graham in an article on social networks in August 2024. “They try to mislead people.
In October, the group publicly swore to combat the legal threats of the BGEA.
Months later, they withdrew from this position, deleting advertisements and agreeing not to use more Graham clips or its organization without explicit authorization.
“Our hope is that these actions and our commitment not to use the Reverend Billy Graham in a partisan electoral context will clarify the confusion on the message in our original announcements; will affirm the value and the importance of the Christian dialogue on the way in which we engage in politics and favors the Christians remaining in communion despite the differences”, their declaration of Tuesday continued.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris visited a campaign office on August 9, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo of Andrew Harnik / Getty Images) (Getty Images)
The Billy Graham Evangelist Association told Fox News Digital: “Their apologies speak of itself, as is the original answer from Franklin Graham. We are grateful for the result.”
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The evangelicals for Harris would have spent more than a million dollars in advertisements targeting religious voters in the swing states, arguing that the politicians and the character of Harris were a more precise reflection of the Christian values than those of Trump.
