Christian evangelist Franklin Graham bumped into former President Donald Trump during a border-area stopover Thursday, just in time for a Trump campaign staffer to snap a photo of the Samaritan’s Purse president praying with Trump before hopping on their respective planes.
“Never know who you are going to run into on the runway at Del Rio TX airport ….to have a Peaceful moment,” Trump campaign senior advisor Chris LaCivita wrote on X along with the photo.
Never know who you are going to run into on the runway at Del Rio TX airport ….to have a Peaceful moment ..🙏@Franklin_Graham pic.twitter.com/GnkfCatdTm
— Chris LaCivita (@LaCivitaC) March 1, 2024
Graham, a pastor and head of one of the largest Protestant charities in the country who was vocal in his support for Trump in 2016, was in Del Rio, Texas for his “God Loves You” tour Thursday, where met with border patrol agents and encouraged Texas residents frustrated by the ongoing border crisis.
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"People down here are discouraged," Franklin told Fox News. "I’m talking about the local people, the Texans that live here. It’s tough — the border patrols are having a tough time, the state of Texas law enforcement is having a tough time. The people that live here are overwhelmed."
Trump, the current frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination heading into the 2024 election, was also in Del Rio Thursday to meet with border patrol and visit one of the most trafficked sections of the porous Southwest U.S. border, where thousands of illegal aliens cross into the United States unlawfully every day. Trump took the opportunity to blast the Biden administration for its pro-illegal immigration policies that have triggered historic numbers of border-jumpers and fueled a nationwide crisis now plaguing cities and towns across the country.