Full disclosure up front, for those who haven’t already heard: I am a Liberty University alum.
I got my Psychology degree from the school and I actually loved being a Liberty Flame! You will not hear me utter a single word against my professors or fellow students. They were all awesome.
I also have to point out that this was pre-Trump. There was a dignity in being a Liberty University student, at that time.
Now, however, things are different. As I’ve often said, I could have attended Gardner-Webb for half the money and none of the embarrassment.
Namely, I’m speaking of the wretched behavior of Liberty University’s president, Jerry Falwell, Jr.
Falwell Jr. is a rabid Trump supporter, using Liberty’s reputation, as well as the Falwell name to prop up an unrepentant, vile adulterer before the evangelical community.
Unfortunately, they bought it, hook, line, and sinker.
Meanwhile, Falwell has continued to trash the reputation of the school by running interference for the president, making excuses for, even championing any vile thing that comes from Trump’s Twitter feed.
To that point, Falwell Jr’s latest attempt to appear as the slavish toady to an increasingly unhinged president was put on display in the very early morning hours of Thursday, as he chose to piggyback on Trump’s Twitter attacks against Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
To recap, On Wednesday, President Trump lashed out at special counsel Robert Mueller and the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump has long claimed the investigation to be a “witch hunt,” in spite of a mountain of evidence to the contrary. His Wednesday Twitter rager, however, was possibly his most direct call to obstruct the investigation.
Yes. That was President Trump calling on his attorney general to step in and stop an ongoing investigation.
Yes. That probably will be looked at, as word is Robert Mueller is looking more seriously into obstruction, and ways the president may be attempting to stop the investigation from being successfully completed.
Falwell attempted to add to the punch, by making a sneering, nasty claim against Jeff Sessions.
Falwell Jr. recounted via Twitter that Sessions showed up on the Liberty University campus the night before the 2016 election.
“I told students but could get almost none of them to come hear him. Could it be our students were the first to see he was a phony pretending to be pro- @realDonaldTrump ?” Falwell Jr. asked.
No, that wasn’t nasty, at all, Jerry.
Strangely @jeffsessions appeared unannounced at @LibertyU the night before the 2016 election on a bus tour. I told students but could get almost none of them to come hear him. Could it be our students were the first to see he was a phony pretending to be pro- @realDonaldTrump ?
— Jerry Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) August 2, 2018
Of course, it could also be seen as a self-own for the Trump loyalists who think attacking Jeff Sessions really makes a point. They’re just not bright enough to grasp it.
And Falwell is being intensely dishonest, here.
Let’s examine the world of reality, since it is very far removed from the cancer of Trumpism.
To begin with, Jeff Sessions brought this all on himself by being the first sitting senator to jump aboard the Trump train, when there were so many more qualified, conservative, and actually dignified choices in the GOP primary. He gave legitimacy to a barking carnival act, to borrow a phrase first and aptly applied by the current Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
Sessions was a true believer in the Trumpian way, which is why he got the spot as Trump’s attorney general. Unfortunately, Trump thought the attorney general’s job was to serve as his block, and nothing more. Sessions thought he was taking a serious Cabinet position.
I’m not saying Falwell is wrong in saying he couldn’t get students to attend whatever Sessions had planned when he stopped in on his tour.
What I am saying is that Falwell is a dishonest, disreputable hack, and he should be ashamed of himself.
No, I’m not under any illusion that someone who has sold his soul to the cult of Trump is capable of the all-too-human trait of shame.
During the primary season for the 2016 election, Trump was not the most popular candidate with the Liberty University student body. Even with Falwell’s endorsement, He only got 8 percent of the student body vote. Florida Senator Marco Rubio got 44 percent, while Texas Senator Ted Cruz got 33 percent.
Trump came in fourth. It was a blowout, and a resounding repudiation of Trump by the Liberty student body.
They didn’t turn out to hear a Trump shill push for Trump before the election?
I don’t think it’s because they saw him as insufficiently loyal to Trump. I think it’s because they saw him for exactly what he was, and they rejected him.
It pays to note that multiple student groups with Liberty have attempted to distance themselves and the school from the stain of Trump, but Falwell has looked to shut them all down.
So while I have little sympathy for Jeff Sessions getting exactly what he signed up for – abuse – I look at the disloyal, deceptive, and sniveling behavior of cowards like Jerry Falwell, Jr with absolute disgust.
Your actions are being weighed in the balance, Mr. Falwell, and before it is over for you, I have no doubt that there will be a time of reckoning.