Photo of Trump, Falwell Jr. beside Playboy cover raises holy heck
Christian leader Jerry Falwell Jr. was so happy to pose with Donald Trump on Tuesday that he tweeted the photo to the world.
Honored to introduce @realDonaldTrump at religious leader summit in NYC today! He did incredible job! @beckifalwell pic.twitter.com/e2eBSbQwb0
— J L Falwell (@JerryJrFalwell) June 21, 2016
Then the world started casting stones.
Because hanging on the wall behind Trump, Falwell and Falwell’s wife, Becki, was a framed Playboy magazine cover.
It was the March 1990 Playboy, to be exact, with Trump and Playmate Brandi Brandt on the front. Brandt is also known for her failed marriage to Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx and for being jailed for her involvement in a cocaine smuggling syndicate that hid drugs in the toilets of airliners.
The New York Post reports that it is a permanent fixture in Trump’s Manhattan office on a wall that showcases other magazine covers Trump has graced.
It took all of a split second for social media to see it in Falwell’s photo.
@JerryJrFalwell @realDonaldTrump @beckifalwell Just curious how the Playboy cover squares with your morality.
— Tami J. Strege (@TamiStrege) June 21, 2016
@JerryJrFalwell @realDonaldTrump @beckifalwell pic.twitter.com/bT9zGejWhj
— Gabriel Schoenfeld (@gabeschoenfeld) June 21, 2016
@JerryJrFalwell @realDonaldTrump @beckifalwell glad you squeezed @hughhefner into the party! #playboycover
— ((Ted)) (@REILLED) June 21, 2016
@JerryJrFalwell @realDonaldTrump @beckifalwell I guess recreating the Playboy cover pose was too much to ask for.
— Chris Willman (@ChrisWillman) June 22, 2016
@JerryJrFalwell @realDonaldTrump @beckifalwell Oy vey
— AdamAnnapolis (@adamannapolis) June 21, 2016
Then, Falwell shot back Tuesday night.
Honored for same hypocrites who accused Jesus of being a friend of publicans and sinners to be targeting me over a decades old mag cover! TY
— J L Falwell (@JerryJrFalwell) June 22, 2016
And Twitter threw more stones.
@JerryJrFalwell Jesus cursed the tree that did not bear fruit out of season. Does Trump bear fruit even *in* season?
— Newman (@mt_newman) June 22, 2016
And back and forth it went.
@kristinnw @JerryJrFalwell Trump is all that and more prideful , greedy , lover of self and money , most un Christlike candidate ever
— ((jacquelin zavala)) (@sweetnfreee43) June 22, 2016
@sweetnfreee43 @kristinnw judge not lest ye be judged
— J L Falwell (@JerryJrFalwell) June 22, 2016
The campaign named a list of people on Tuesday who will serve on an evangelical executive advisory board to Trump that will “convene on a regular basis,” according to Politico.
Some of them were responsible for organizing the meeting between Trump and Christian leaders in New York on Tuesday.
Falwell is one of them.
Trump is proud of that Playboy cover. Last month at a rally in Pennsylvania someone handed him a copy of the magazine to autograph as he worked the rope line.
Trump held it up and showed it to the crowd standing nearby.
People cheered.
This story originally appeared on KansasCity.com.
This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Photo of Trump, Falwell Jr. beside Playboy cover raises holy heck."