The University President’s father, Jerry Lamon Falwell Sr., was a Southern Baptist pastor who was known for his stance against homosexuality.
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The university is a popular destination for presidential candidates.
Trump, a Republican, spoke at Liberty University’s convocation earlier this month. “But Falwell, who cut a radio advertisement for Trump last week, was laudatory of the real-estate magnate, glowingly comparing Trump to his father due to their shared propensity for eschewing political correctness”, CNN reported.
The endorsement wasn’t unexpected, given Falwell’s remarks when Trump appeared at the evangelical university last week, bumbling a reference to “Second Corinthians” in the process.
Trump said in the statement that Falwell’s support “means so much to me”.
The endorsement drew jeers, however, from an evangelical leader and president of the Florida Family Policy Council.
The endorsement, which is personal and not on behalf of the University, comes just days after the campaign released an ad featuring excerpts from Falwell’s glowing introduction of Mr. Trump at the Liberty University event stating, “I see a lot of parallels between my father and Donald Trump”. They want to secure the border.
By accepting Falwell’s endorsement, Trump is explicitly cloaking himself in anti-LGBT evangelicalism.
But at least one evangelical leader derided the endorsement, and railed it would have the late Jerry Falwell “rolling over in his grave”.
According to the RealClearPolitics average, Trump holds a 5.7 point lead over Cruz ahead of the February 1 caucuses, with no other candidates within striking distance. Both Trump and Cruz have courted social conservatives in Iowa.
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“I think the “Trump tsunami” is real and he will win in New Hampshire”, Hewitt wrote.
