Sarah Palin's Early Christmas Gift: A Free Ride on Franklin Graham's Charity Jet

2 years ago

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Religion Reporter

No one would mistake Sarah Palin for a charity case, given the multimillion-dollar advance she received for "Going Rogue" and the dollars she can command as perhaps the most sought-after Republican speaker on the circuit.

But Franklin Graham, son of the legendary evangelist Billy Graham and founder of the international Christian relief group Samaritan's Purse, apparently thought she could use a helping hand. So when Palin said she wanted to meet the elder Graham for some face time and a politically potent photo-op at Billy Graham's mountaintop home in North Carolina last month, Franklin Graham had one of the Samaritan's Purse jets fly her in from Virginia.

The younger Graham has defended the use of the charity's planes, telling Fox News, "We felt that was an appropriate use of the aircraft."

"She's not a candidate," said Franklin Graham, who owns property in Alaska and has known Palin for several years. "And she is not running for anything as far as I know. She was in Roanoke, Virginia, which is a 35-minute flight from Asheville [North Carolina], and we thought it was appropriate to pick her up and expedite and facilitate her meeting my father."

The Fox News report also noted that it was one of the charity's smaller planes. Samaritan's Purse maintains a fleet of jets for relief missions around the world and is currently conducting its annual "Operation Christmas Child" campaign to distribute more than 8 million shoeboxes filled with presents to needy children in 105 countries.

Graham's generosity with Palin drew rebukes from the likes of the lefty blog The Daily Kos. "This means that donations to SP are being used to haul Palin's carcass around," opined Old Redneck, who also found that Samaritan's Purse apparently blocked notification of the flight's status that normally shows up on the popular plane tracking site, Flightaware.com.

Still, whatever Palin received in terms of free travel, her time with Billy Graham was worth far more.

As we reported at the time of the meeting, Palin spent nearly three hours at Graham's home in Montreat, getting valuable shots with him and her baby son, Trig, sharing dinner with his family, and enjoying 30-40 minutes of private time with the elder statesman of evangelicalism, who released a statement of high praise afterwards.

Franklin's spin on the meeting was even warmer: "Daddy feels God was using her to wake America up," said the younger Graham, 57.

Whether Palin sticks with politics or winds up in a pulpit, that's an endorsement you can take to the bank.

Filed Under: Religion, Sarah Palin, 2012 President, Disputations

Tagged: Billy Graham, BillyGraham, charity jet, Franklin Graham, Samaritans Purse, SamaritansPurse

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