Liberty University students denounce Jerry Falwell Jr. for supporting Trump
Students of Liberty University denounced its president, Jerry Falwell Jr., for actively campaigning for Donald Trump despite the allegations of sexual assault against the Republican candidate.
Two women have recently accused Trump of sexual assault after the video scandal where he talked about groping and kissing women broke out.
In an interview with the New York Times, Jessica Leeds, 74, said Trump touched her inappropriately about 30 years ago when she sat beside him in a first-class cabin in a flight to New York.
Another woman named Rachel Crooks told the New York Times that Trump forcibly kissed her when she was in the elevator with the business magnate.
Falwell came out in support of Trump when CNN asked him about the allegations.
"I'm gonna vote for Donald Trump 'cause I believe he is the best qualified to be President of the United States. And I'm not gonna say anything to besmirch the characters of any of these women," he said.
Liberty University students released a statement on Wednesday, noting that Trump only received 90 votes from members of the university during the primary elections in Virginia.
"President Falwell eagerly uses his national platform to advocate for Donald Trump. While he occasionally clarifies that supporting Trump is not the official position of Liberty University, he knows it is his title of president of the largest Christian university in the world that gives him political credentials," the students said in the statement.
The students asserted that teachers at the university would be terminated if they made remarks similar to the ones Trump made in the leaked video. They criticized Falwell for coming to the candidate's defense in the media and taking the name of the university with him.
They clarified that their opposition to Trump is not done out of spite but borne of their desire to reclaim the school's integrity.
"We don't want to champion Donald Trump; we want only to be champions for Christ," the statement concluded.
Dustin Wahl, a junior student at the university, told News Advance that over 200 students have signed the statement by Wednesday night.
