This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In an Aug. 23 op-ed written by Jerry Falwell Jr. ("Trump is the Churchillian leader we need"), occupying about one-third of the op-ed page, Jr., president of Liberty University, which he inherited from Falwell Sr., recalled referring to Donald Trump as "America's blue-collar billionaire" at the Republican National Convention. Later, Jr. compared Trump's "qualities that resemble those of Winston Churchill." He follows with a machine-gun tirade of questionable charges against President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the danger of a bad Supreme Court (non-Republican dominated), etc.
As the Falwell name raises the hair-on-the-neck on millions of Americans, I Googled his name, and found an article posted Aug. 21 on RedState by Susan Wright, a graduate of Liberty University with a degree in psychology, acclaiming the quality of the school's Christian and academic environment, but finishing with:
"All that being said, the school's president is off his nut. Jerry Falwell Jr. (not a pastor) has shamed his father's name and legacy, once again, by going for the money and heaping unrealistic and undeserved praise on Donald Trump … The idea that Trump is a "blue-collar billionaire" is ridiculous enough … Other than they both are male, I wouldn't compare him to Churchill in any way."
Wright learned well at Liberty U. A good read.
M. Ray Kingston
Salt Lake City