FRANKLIN GRAHAM

Mike Pence spent more than four years standing in President Donald Trump’s shadow, refusing to criticize or allow sunlight between them.

Evangelist Franklin Graham successfully underwent a specialized heart surgery on Monday to treat a condition which had developed in recent months, a spokesman said. Mark Barber, a spokesman for North Carolina-based Samaritan's Purse, said in a news release that Graham underwent the procedure at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In recent months, according to the news release, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham had developed constrictive pericarditis, inflammation, and hardening of the sac around the heart that compresses the heart and prevents it from working properly.

Public health officials' messaging isn't reaching many evangelicals. Some faith leaders are trying to change that.

Public health officials' messaging isn't reaching many evangelicals. Some faith leaders are trying to change that.

As his administration draws to a close, some of those backers are approaching President-elect Joe Biden with skepticism, but not antagonism. During the Obama administration, Graham attended a conversation Biden convened among faith-based advocates about gun legislation. However, some groups such as Perkins' may find occasional opportunities to work with the Biden administration even while remaining critical of it in their messaging to members and fundraising, according to evangelical writer and analyst Napp Nazworth. Meanwhile, evangelicals outside those most closely associated with Trump already are identifying commonalities where they could partner with Biden. The Trump administration had slashed the refugee target to historic lows.

Followers of Franklin Graham march from the Lincoln Memorial to Capitol Hill, during the Prayer March at the National Mall, in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Followers of Franklin Graham march from the Lincoln Memorial to Capitol Hill, during the Prayer March at the National Mall, in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)WASHINGTON – Thousands of people packed the National Mall in downtown Washington on Saturday to pray and show their support for President Donald Trump. The march, which stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol, was held just hours before Trump was set to announce he was nominating a conservative judge for the Supreme Court. Some sported red caps with the words “Let’s Make America Godly Again,” a play on Trump’s signature MAGA caps. Vice President Mike Pence, speaking from the steps of the memorial, said he came to extend Trump’s “greetings and gratitude” and asked them to pray for the new Supreme Court nominee.

What to watch on the fourth and final night of the Republican National Convention:TRUMPTrump is scheduled to accept his partys renomination in an address from the White House South Lawn. IVANKAThe president will be introduced by his daughter Ivanka Trump, the fourth of his five children to speak during the convention. RUDYDonald Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to help close out the convention. BIDENThe Democrat has laid low this week but he's scheduled to appear at a virtual fundraiser Thursday. ET (a half-hour earlier than the Democratic convention last week) and runs through 11 p.m.

AUSTIN, Texas Signs in the Texas Panhandle urged voters to wear masks. By and large, most voters covered their faces, even though Texas' mask mandate exempts polling locations. On Wednesday, Texas again set a new high with nearly 10,800 new cases, along with a record 110 deaths. The rising toll includes 35 deaths that officials on the Texas-Mexico border said happened Wednesday morning alone in Hidalgo County. Although it remains too early to tell the impact since Texas' mask order was announced before the Fourth of July weekend, other former holdouts to requiring face coverings continued relenting Wednesday.

Vice President Mike Pence, left, greets Senior Pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress, right, after Pence spoke at the Southern Baptist megachurch First Baptist Dallas during a Celebrate Freedom Rally in Dallas, Sunday, June 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)NEW YORK Churches connected to President Donald Trump and other organizations linked to current or former Trump evangelical advisers received at least $17.3 million in loans from a federal rescue package designed to aid small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Graham, whose megachurch claims more than 42,000 members, is not related to Trump evangelical adviser Franklin Graham, son of the late Rev. Other program beneficiaries connected to veteran evangelical Trump allies include The Faith & Freedom Coalition, founded by conservative strategist Ralph Reed, which got a loan of between $150,000 and $350,000. King Jesus International Ministry, the Miami megachurch where Trump launched his evangelical outreach push ahead of Novembers election, received a loan of between $2 million and $5 million according to the data. That church's pastor, Guillermo Maldonado, was also among a group of faith leaders who met and prayed with Trump at the White House last fall.

Like Churchill, we saw him inspecting the bombing damage and it sent a powerful message of leadership to the British people," she said. For this president, it was powerful and important to send a message that the rioters, the looters, the anarchists, they will not prevail, McEnany said. Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, said he was disgusted by McEnanys comparison. Religious leaders, including Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, have fiercely criticized Trump over the tactics used against demonstrators. And its only the other side that didnt like it.Trump has praised the leadership of Churchill before.

Fourteen white tents opened for business in New York's famed Central Park this week to treat COVID-19 patients. More than half of the Empire State's coronavirus cases are in New York City, according to the state's coronavirus site. Sinai Hospital, which is located directly across the street from the tents in Central Park. Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian disaster-relief organization run by Franklin Graham, son of the late Billy Graham, did the construction and is providing staff. Central Park is not.

I do feel like we are, as Christians, the first line of defense for the president, Christina Jones, 44, said before Graham took the stage. AdvertisementFrances Lassiter, 65, dismissed Democrats pursuit of an impeachment case against Trump as all a bunch of crap designed to push him from office. Grahams preaching tour featured another touch, one more reminiscent of a political rally: counter-programming from evangelicals on the left. Wilson-Hartgrove described Grahams tour as a coordinated effort to intertwine religion and conservative politics. Those who report attending church weekly were more likely to approve than those who attend less often, 81% versus 73%.