Jerry Falwell Jr. (right), president of Liberty U., with President Trump at the evangelical university’s commencement last May. Mr. Falwell remains the U.S. president’s closest ally in higher education.Alex Wong, Getty Images
Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and President Trump’s closest ally in higher education, says he supports efforts to oust “Fake Republicans,” who would undermine the Trump administration’s agenda. And he’s calling on evangelical voters nationwide to help out.
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Jerry Falwell Jr. (right), president of Liberty U., with President Trump at the evangelical university’s commencement last May. Mr. Falwell remains the U.S. president’s closest ally in higher education.Alex Wong, Getty Images
Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and President Trump’s closest ally in higher education, says he supports efforts to oust “Fake Republicans,” who would undermine the Trump administration’s agenda. And he’s calling on evangelical voters nationwide to help out.
In an interview with Breitbart News, Mr. Falwell applauded Stephen K. Bannon, a former senior adviser to the president and now executive chairman of Breitbart, for his effort to edge out some establishment Republicans, including several prominent U.S. senators, who do not “100 percent” support President Trump. “He’s probably the only guy who could organize an effort to primary out these,” he said. “I keep saying ‘Fake Republicans’ because that’s what they are.”
“If they can be replaced in 2018 — the political class needs to go,” he went on. “If the people can go out and find candidates like Donald Trump, who have been successful in the private sector, and go out and primary those people — I’m talking about, I know it’s not going to happen in Maine, but I’m talking about people like Susan Collins, [Lindsey] Graham, [Jeff] Flake, [John] McCain, [Mitch] McConnell.
“I think if they go,” he continued, “Trump is going to be the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.”
He also railed against the news media and the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he argued had created a “permanently impoverished class,” including in large cities.
“I know how you get the people in the big cities to start voting right: You get rid of Nafta that sent all the jobs — the whole idea behind Nafta was to send all the jobs to other countries to keep a permanent impoverished class of people in this country who couldn’t get jobs dependent upon the Democratic Party to vote for the Democrats,” he said.
“We can’t just bring the companies back; you got to cut the welfare back, too, and get people to work,” Mr. Falwell said. “That would be the best thing in the world for the poor people in inner cities, to have jobs instead of welfare checks.”
Mr. Falwell was an early endorser of President Trump and has regularly appeared on television as a surrogate for the president since his election. That has won him criticism from some Liberty students and alumni. In August several alumni said they would return their diplomas in protest after Mr. Falwell defended the president’s immediate response to the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, in which a counterprotester was killed.
The Liberty president’s support has not gone unnoticed by President Trump, who tweeted: “Jerry Falwell of Liberty University was fantastic on @foxandfriends. The Fake News should listen to what he had to say. Thanks Jerry!”
Jerry Falwell of Liberty University was fantastic on @foxandfriends. The Fake News should listen to what he had to say. Thanks Jerry!
Earlier this year Mr. Falwell told The Chronicle that he would lead a White House task force on overhauling regulations in higher education. A White House official confirmed in June that a task force with Mr. Falwell would convene; however, information about his role and the task force’s purview remains limited.
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But that does not mean his university does not have a voice on higher-education reform: Ashley Reich, senior director of financial-aid compliance and state approvals at Liberty, will serve as a primary negotiator on the “borrower defense to repayment” rule-making panel, which meets in November.
Adam Harris, a staff writer at The Atlantic, was previously a reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education and covered federal education policy and historically Black colleges and universities. He also worked at ProPublica.
