Franklin Graham prays for Trump, calls for unity in Republican National Convention speech

Charlotte evangelist Franklin Graham prayed for former President Donald Trump and for unity in the wake of the recent attempt on Trump’s life during an address to the Republican National Convention on Thursday.

Speaking to convention-goers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and before Trump himself, Graham offered a moment of reflection, praying “for the leaders of our nation, whether they’re Republican, Democrat or Independent.”

“Our nation is in trouble. We’re divided politically, racially, economically, with millions of people seeking refuge and hope in our dry and thirsty land, you’re the only one who can fix the complexity of the problems that we face today,” he said.

Graham is president of the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association , named for his late father, Billy Graham. He also leads the Boone-based Samaritan’s Purse , an international crisis-response organization.

He expressed condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, who was shot and killed by a man accused of trying to assassinate Trump at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania.

“I cannot explain why God would save one life and allow another one to be taken. I don’t have the answer for that,” he said.

Graham said during his remarks he was speaking “as a private citizen.”

He praised Trump for appointing conservative judges during his presidency and for his administration’s work to help get American pastor Andrew Brunson freed from a Turkish prison in 2018 .

“I’m grateful and thankful for what he did as the 45th president of the United States, and I know that as the 47th president, he will keep his word to the American people to make America great once again,” Graham said.

His appearance on the final night of the convention wrapped up a slate of speakers and events with plenty of North Carolina connections. Both the Trump and Biden campaigns are looking to carry the swing state, where Trump posted his slimmest margin of victory in 2020.

NC speakers at Republican National Convention

Annette Albright, who ran for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board multiple times, also spoke Thursday.

During her 2023 campaign for an at-large seat on the CMS board — a nonpartisan election — Albright and two other candidates faced accusations from a progressive group for having ties to the Republican Party of Mecklenburg County. Both Albright and the MeckGOP have denied those allegations. But since the election, Albright has been a vocal critic of Democrats on social media.

Asked whether speaking at the Republican convention would affirm those past claims made against her, Albright told The Charlotte Observer last week she has “to go where I am respected and where I am appreciated and where I’m wanted.”

On Thursday, she said she’s registering as a Republican and planning to vote for Trump because she’s in favor of school choice and more discipline in schools.

Albright said she witnessed “a full-blown riot” and “many violent altercations” while working in Charlotte schools. She sued CMS for wrongful termination after she was fired after a 2016 video circulated of her being attacked by students at Harding High School. The suit was settled in 2018 .

“It didn’t take long for me to realize that public schools are a part of the problem,” she told the convention.

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, who represents North Carolina’s 9th District and chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, helped kick off Thursday’s events with a push for Republicans to keep their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee in this year’s governor race, spoke on the first night of the convention. His Monday speech differed from the fiery, often controversial speeches he gives at extreme-right churches and focused on his background.

And a group of fraternity members from UNC-Chapel Hill who held up the American flag during a pro-Palestinian campus protest appeared at the convention Wednesday . Video of the incident went viral, and the group received more than $500,000 in donations that were used to throw a Labor Day party, The News & Observer reported previously.

NC Democrats respond to RNC

As the GOP rallied in Wisconsin, Democrats have continued to campaign in North Carolina.

Vice President Kamala Harris was in Fayetteville Thursday, her second visit to the state in as many weeks.

And Democrats, including state party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton, gathered in Charlotte Tuesday , saying Trump’s newly minted running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, has extreme views and won’t stand up to the Republican nominee.

The party has invested more than $1.2 million in the state so far this election cycle, the Democratic National Committee said in a statement Tuesday.

But Trump has maintained a consistent lead in the polls in North Carolina.

Clayton said Tuesday the state party is committed to its plan to focus on voter outreach, including going door-to-door to talk to residents and encouraging voter registration.

“We’re making sure that we are having folks out every single weekend,” she said.

McClatchy reporters Danielle Battaglia, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan and Korie Dean contributed.