theProGunDemocrat.com "…where we support ALL the Amendments"

Trump Continues to Lose Support from His White House Team, Including Mike Pence

Unlike Trump, Biden Delivers on Infrastructure Promise - updated

For Political Reasons, Trump Bullies GOP into Opposing Bipartisan Border Solution

Job Growth Under Biden Continues to Out-Perform Expectations - updated

GOP-Leaning States Have Highest Gun Violence - Some More Than Chicago

2023 Vote: Dems, Choice, & Democracy Continue to Do Well

EV Battery Life Longer than Thought

Construction of U.S. Factories is Booming Under Biden

Did Trump Even Steal His MAGA Slogan? From Bill Clinton?

Democrats Are Delivering for Michigan...So GOP Tries Recall

Expanding Medicaid Helps Rural America -- N.C. Signs Up, But When Will Mississippi?

Boebert Embarasses Herself Again - This Time On Public Urination

Alex Jones Found Guilty of Sandy Hook Lies - Owes Plaintiffs $980m

2022: What Red Wave? GOP Barely Wins House, Dems/Freedom/Democracy Prevail Elsewhere

Trump Takes the Fifth in Criminal Investigation

America Approves of Schumer-Manchin Bill, But GOP Still Votes No

CIA Kills Zawahiri, 9/11 Mastermind

Did Gorsuch & Kavanaugh Lie to Congress about Roe vs. Wade?

Oil Execs Blame Wall Street for High Gas Prices, They Don't Blame Biden

Biden Isn't Messing Around on Cybersecurity - updated

Biden/Blinken Rally NATO to Support Ukraine; Entire World Condemns Putin...Except Trump & Fox - updated

Study: Trump's Trade War a Failure

Best Stock Market Results One Year After Election Belongs to...Joe Biden

Fox News Covid Policy for Employees: Get Vaccinated or Get Tested Daily

FDA Fully Approves Covid Vaccine - No More Excuses?

Former CPAC Head Says GOP Now a Cult: They Wouldn't Even Elect Reagan

Dems Pass Biden's Covid Relief Bill; GOP Votes No

Trump Encourages Seditious Mob, Won't Stop Violence, Gets Impeached

Biden Wins Presidency; Trump Pouts, Promotes Baseless Fraud Conspiracies

FBI Director Says White Supremacists are Biggest US Terror Threat, Russia is Helping Trump, No Signs of Voter Fraud

Sorry, Trump Dislikes Our Veterans

Biden Won't Defund the Police, but Trump's Budget Does

Biden Helped Save the U.S. Auto Industry, but Pence Voted No

Will GOP Ever Fix Our Infrastructure?

Even Trump's Sister Disses Him

Lincoln Project's Ads Skewer Trump

GOP's Perdue Was Proud to Send American Jobs to China

Eric Cantor Calls Joe Biden 'Awesome'

Powerful Long-Time Lindsey Graham Supporter Says "Not This Year"

Trump Culture of Hate Trickles Down in GOP: AOC Accosted on Capitol Steps

Was Breaking Up a Peaceful Protest to Stage a Photo Op the Last Straw?

Bush Calls for Unity During Pandemic, but Trump Tries to Pick a Fight

Clint Eastwood Endorses Bloomberg

Mayor Pete's Health Plan Saves $'s

GOP, Conservatives, Evangelicals Who Support Trump Impeachment

Trump Foundation Shut Down by NY Atty Genl for Illegal Actions - updated

2019 Elections: Dems Take Virginia Assembly, KY & Louisiana Guv Races

What? Fox's Tucker Carlson Likes Elizabeth Warren's Economic Plan?

Is this why Jerry Falwell Jr. Endorsed Trump?

Beto Pays El Paso, Trump Doesn't

Kentucky GOP Chickens Out: Uninvites AOC to Coal Country

Reagan's Budget Chief Calls Trump "Unhinged Madman"

Trump Insults Allies, Cozies Up to Communist Dictator, and Gets Played...Again

Even Fox Calls Out Trump's Lies About the Mexican Border Wall

George H. W. Bush: A Retrospective

2018 Blue Wave: Dems, Min Wage, Healthcare, Democracy Win Big

Don't Look Now, But Trump Doesn't Like Southerners Either

Right-to-Work Defeated by Missouri Voters - Bigly!

Russian Hackers Penetrate U.S. Power Grid

Is "Medicare for All" Gaining Momentum? - updated

Anti-Immigrant Activists Should Check Their Own Family History First

Trump Tries Claiming He Can Pardon Himself - Why, Unless He's Guilty?

Tillerson's Concerns About Truth & Ethics Seen as Swipe at Trump

Uh-oh: Carter Draws Bigger Crowd than Trump at Liberty Commencement

Will Agriculture Pay the Price for Trump's Trade War?

Tillerson Fired Via Tweet - Weak!! (Was Russia the Tipping Point?)

Kochs Contribute $500k to Paul Ryan After Tax Bill Passes

Missouri Gov. Greitens Admits Affair - Will Evangelicals Still Support Him?

Gates, Buffett, & Now Bloomberg Have Doubts About Trump Tax Plan

"Deal Maker" Trump Botches Another Opportunity: This Time It's Jerusalem

Bannon Loves Roy Moore, But Why Does the Senate GOP?

2017 Election Results: Dems Win Big

Starting Day 1, Trump Already Hurting Many Who Voted For Him - updated

Arpaio Pardon Shows Trump's Contempt for Rule of Law

Even GOP Leaders Criticize Trump Comments on Va Violence

Fox Downplays Story of Iowa Cop Killer Who Backed Trump

ACA Helping to Reduce Bankruptcies

House GOP Rejects "Buy American" Provisions

McConnell Admits (Sort of) that Coal Jobs Aren't Coming Back - Now What?

ARCHIVE - News Briefs

Lyin' Donald Trump?

Right Wing Myth-Busting

Gates, Buffett, & Now Bloomberg Have Doubts About Trump Tax Plan

GOP Elders Propose Carbon Tax to Fight Climate Change

Overtime Change Will Boost Middle Class Wages

Buffett's Anti-Poverty Program (Reagan Supported It Too)

The Federal Deficit Was Shrinking

Study Shows Auto Bailout a Success

The Conservative Case FOR a Higher Minimum Wage

How Bush Sr. Solved Acid Rain Using Basic Economics

The National Debt and Federal Fiscal Policy

Thoughts on the Wall Street Bailout

ARCHIVE - Economics

Political Cartoons & Memes

2019 Elections: Dems Take Virginia Assembly, KY & Louisiana Guv Races

Eric Cantor Calls Joe Biden 'Awesome'

What? Fox's Tucker Carlson Likes Elizabeth Warren's Economic Plan?

Is this why Jerry Falwell Jr. Endorsed Trump?

Kentucky GOP Chickens Out: Uninvites AOC to Coal Country

Reagan's Budget Chief Calls Trump "Unhinged Madman"

George H. W. Bush: A Retrospective

2018 Blue Wave: Dems, Min Wage, Healthcare, Democracy Win Big

Tillerson Fired Via Tweet - Weak!! (Was Russia the Tipping Point?)

Kochs Contribute $500k to Paul Ryan After Tax Bill Passes

Bannon Loves Roy Moore, But Why Does the Senate GOP?

2017 Election Results: Dems Win Big

House GOP Rejects "Buy American" Provisions

NC GOP Continues Power Grab

KKK Victory Parade for Trump

Clinton Wins Popular Vote; Other 2016 Election Results

Benghazi Not Clinton's Fault Says Stevens Family

When Will Republicans Agree to Fix Our Nation's Infrastructure?

McConnell and GOP Block Student Loan Re-financing Bill

What Happened to the Ebola Crisis?

Another GOP Candidate who Made his Money Sending US Jobs Overseas

ARCHIVE - Politics

Upcoming Gun & Militaria Shows

O'Reilly & Trump Favor New Gun Control Legislation

The GOP & Guns

Our Favorite Pro-Gun Democrats

Snyder Vetoes Gun Rights in Michigan

Is Single-Payer Gaining Momentum?

ACA Helping to Reduce Bankruptcies

Unpaid Hospital Bills Fall as ACA Expands

Five Reasons We Like the ACA

Obamacare: The GOP Was For It, Before They Were Against It

Don't Believe These Lies About the Affordable Care Act

ARCHIVE - Healthcare

Arpaio Pardon Shows Trump's Contempt for Rule of Law

Minimum Wage Increases Upheld by Missouri, Arizona Supreme Courts

Can the President Appoint Garland if the Senate Won't Act?

Oklahoma, Nebraska Want to Disallow Part of Colorado's Marijuana Law

Has the Supreme Court Legalized Political Bribery?

Tillerson Fired Via Tweet - Weak!! (Was Russia the Tipping Point?)

"Deal Maker" Trump Botches Another Opportunity: This Time It's Jerusalem

How to Deal with Russia

Are Obama/Kerry Right About the Middle East?

House GOP Panel Admits Benghazi Rumors are Not True

Religion and Politics

Missouri Gov. Greitens Admits Affair - Will Evangelicals Still Support Him?

Christian Groups' Christian Response to Syrian Refugees

Can This Company Reverse Climate Change?

Update on Other Alternative Energies

Fracking Viable Thanks to...the Feds?

All-Time Best NFL Helmets: Rankings

Did Trump's Greed/Mismanagement Cause the USFL to Fold?

Bernie & the NFL: Two Peas in a Socialist Pod?

Big10 Football: Are "Experts" Changing their Tune?

Is Hardy Signing Another Reason for Fans to Dislike the Dallas Cowboys?

Gronk Handles a Trash-Talker

Is This Why Falwell Jr. Endorsed Trump in 2016?


September 2019 - With off-color stories of Jerry Falwell Jr. again in the news and many people demanding Mr. Falwell resign his position as head of Liberty University, we were reminded of a story that came out earlier this year which made many Americans wonder: Is this why Mr. Falwell endorsed Donald Trump in 2016? Here is a summary of that story:



May 2019 - The Reuters news service recently reported that Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's personal attorney and fixer, told entertainer Tom Arnold in March that Mr. Cohen had performed a strong-arm (our term) favor for Jerry Falwell Jr. in 2015. The favor related to some "candid" photos that Mr. Falwell did not want made public.



Cohen/Falwell Jr. images from washingtonpost.com


If true, could this be the reason that Mr. Falwell surprised everyone and endorsed Mr. Trump in 2016? First, some background for our younger readers and others who may not be familiar with the name Jerry Falwell:


Jerry Falwell Sr. was the fundamentalist Christian pastor who founded the so-called "Moral Majority" in the1980's. He promoted the concept of "family values", which he felt should be reflected in and by America's political leaders.


Which is why it came as a shock to many when his son, Jerry Falwell, Jr., endorsed Donald Trump for President in 2016. After all, everyone knew that Mr. Trump was a foul-mouthed, money-hungry, thrice-married womanizer, who has exhibited little regard for the poor or for the truth. And, while not a pastor, Falwell Jr. has continued his father's legacy as head of Liberty University, another organization founded by Falwell Sr.


So what could have led Falwell Jr. to endorse Mr. Trump and then to campaign for Mr. Trump, vouching for Mr. Trump's Christian virtues in the process?


Falwell Jr. image from slate.com


At the time, the obvious answer to us was that, while the terms family values and morality do reflect the belief system of most Americans, conservative evangelicals have largely defined these two terms to mean that 1) abortion should be illegal and 2) discrimination against homosexuals is acceptable. If you agree with them on those two issues, too many evangelicals will give you a pass in other areas of your personal morality and ethics. And Mr. Trump was willing to flip-flop on his long-held positions in both areas in order to take hard enough lines to court the evangelical community.


And yet, other Republican Presidential candidates in 2016 took equally hard line positions on those two issues. In fact, Ted Cruz chose to kick off his Presidential campaign with a speech at Liberty University. So why choose to endorse Donald Trump and all his baggage?


Which brings us back to Mr. Cohen's story. According to Reuters, who listened to tapes that Mr. Arnold had made of his conversation with Mr. Cohen, Mr. Cohen had said the following:

  • Someone had come into possession of racy personal photographs of Falwell Jr. - the sort of photos that typically would be kept "between husband and wife."
  • The Falwells wanted to keep these "personal photographs" from becoming public. Mr. Cohen claims to have seen one of those photographs and "it's terrible."
  • After Mr. Cohen's intervention with the party possessing the photographs, the photos were destroyed.
(This is not the first possibly sordid story involving Mr. Falwell's personal life. Among those other stories, the one that Mr. Falwell does discuss to some extent pertains to a 22-year old pool boy that Mr. Falwell and his wife met and subsequently bankrolled in his own hostel business.)



Falwell/Trump image from washingtonpost.com


In a statement released by an attorney for the Falwells, that unnamed attorney called Mr. Cohen's account "not accurate" and said in a follow-up text message to the Washington Post that "there are no compromising or embarrassing photos of Falwell, period."


The Reuters story also reports that Mr. Cohen had held meetings with Falwell, Jr. just before the critical Iowa primary in 2016. Mr. Cohen used those meetings to help persuade Mr. Falwell that he should endorse Donald Trump.


Neither Reuters, nor we, are saying that the matter of the photos played a role in the Falwell endorsement. But it would not be out of character for either Mr. Trump or Mr. Cohen to use whatever pressure they can bring to bear on a situation in order to achieve their desired results.


We hope there is more to come on this story and that the truth does come out, regardless of which way the story falls.








Copyright © 2014-2021.
TheProGunDemocrat.com - All rights reserved.

Home About Us Contact Us