The group Evangelicals for Harris used Billy Graham to attack Trump. Now, it might get sued

An evangelical Christian group working to get Vice President Kamala Harris elected is facing a potential legal challenge over its attack ad against former President Donald Trump.
The ad from Evangelicals for Harris contrasts Trump’s comments on issues like money and political power against comments made in the past by famed evangelist Billy Graham.
At one point in the ad, Graham is shown preaching about the dangers of greed. Then, there’s a clip of Trump saying he’s “greedy, greedy, greedy” and that he’s “grabbed all the money” he could get.
“The clips in our ‘Keep Clear’ ad reflect the kind of man Donald Trump is,” Evangelicals for Harris argues on its website.
The ad has angered leaders of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, who have sent a cease and desist letter to Evangelicals for Harris, alleging copyright infringement, according to Religion News Service.
In a statement, the organization’s leaders said that Evangelicals for Harris was not authorized to use the clips of Graham in its political ad.
“It may be worth noting that, in all of his years of ministry and across relationships with 11 U.S. presidents, Billy Graham sought only to encourage them and to offer them the counsel of Christ, as revealed through God’s Word. He never criticized presidents publicly and would undoubtedly refuse to let his sermons be used to do so, regardless of who is involved,” the statement said, per Religion News Service.
Franklin Graham, the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, has shared harsher critiques of the ad on social media. He’s described it as misleading, arguing that, when he was still alive, Billy Graham shared support for Trump’s “values and policies.”
“The liberals are using anything and everything they can to promote candidate Harris. They even developed a political ad trying to use my father @BillyGraham’s image. They are trying to mislead people,” Franklin Graham wrote on X. “Maybe they don’t know that my father appreciated the conservative values and policies of President @realDonaldTrump in 2016, and if he were alive today, my father’s views and opinions would not have changed.”
So far, Evangelicals for Harris has not pulled the ad.
In a public statement and legal documents, the group has defended its use of the Billy Graham footage and criticized Franklin Graham.
“Franklin is scared of our ads because we do not tell people what to do or think. We merely hold Trump’s own words up to the light of Scripture, the necessity of repentance, and Biblical warnings against leaders exactly like Trump,” Evangelicals for Harris said in a statement shared on X.