Franklin Graham: No interest in federal money meant for WHO

NEW YORK — Rev. Franklin Graham says his Christian relief charity has no interest in receiving any of the funding President Donald Trump has withheld from the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus.

Samaritan’s Purse, Graham’s international relief charity, has operated a field hospital for coronavirus patients in New York’s Central Park since last month that sparked local opposition, even as its work was recognized at a White House ceremony this week marking the National Day of Prayer.

While the New York Post has reported the charity is under consideration to receive some of the U.S. funding Trump has paused for the U.N. health agency, the evangelist said he doesn’t expect it.

“First of all, it’s not going to come,” Graham, son of the late Rev. Billy Graham, told The Associated

Press during a visit last week to thank medical workers at the field hospital. “But it would be too much of a controversy if they gave Samaritan’s Purse a penny. And it’s just not worth it.”

Trump said last month his administration would pause U.S. payments for the WHO during an investigation period of 60 to 90 days. The prospect of Samaritan’s Purse receiving funding redirected from the U.N. health agency prompted warnings from some Graham critics, including the secular group American Atheists.

“God provides what we need,” Graham said, adding that “I kind of like not being beholden to the government.”

The conservative evangelist’s relief group, which has partnerships in more than 100 countries, receives funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development for specific projects implemented jointly, according to a spokesman. About 6% of the charity’s income last year came from that agency, the spokesman said.

Samaritan’s Purse is no stranger to controversy. Its Central Park hospital has drawn criticism from local officials and activists who decried the charity’s mandate that employees endorse a “statement of faith,” which includes opposition to same-sex marriage.

In a statement that cited past disparaging comments Graham has made about LGBTQ people, the Democratic speaker of New York’s City Council urged Samaritan’s Purse to leave the city. New York City’s Commission on Human Rights responded to the charity’s arrival in the city with a vow to help any resident experiencing discrimination.

Critics of his group’s operations in New York “were upset because we don’t believe the way they believe,” Graham said, adding that “we were discriminated against because of our faith.”