Evangelist Franklin Graham on Wednesday
blamed the Syrian refugee crisis on President Barack Obama's support
for LGBT rights.
Graham, the son of evangelist Billy
Graham and head of the Billy Graham Evangelist Association, made his
comments during an appearance on Newsmax TV.
“Why do you think President Obama has
taken so little interest in helping to protect Christians in the
Middle East?” host J.D. Hayworth asked.
“Well, he's more interested in
policies that are against Christians in this country and going around
the world promoting same-sex marriage and the agenda of the gay and
lesbian community,” Graham
answered. “And I’m not here to bash the gays and lesbians
and they certainly have rights, I understand all that, but this
administration has been more focused on that agenda than anything
else and as a result the Middle East is burning and you have more
refugees moving today since World War II, and it could have been
prevented.”
Graham, a vocal opponent of LGBT
rights, went on to praise Pope Francis for meeting with Kentucky
county clerk Kim Davis, who is fighting to prevent her county office
from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Davis,
Graham said, is a victim of discrimination for standing up for her
view that “homosexuality is a sin against God.”