A faith-based group that backed former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign is apologizing for a series of ads that used clips of Rev. Billy Graham without authorization, pledging to stop using the late evangelist’s image in future political messaging.
Evangelicals for America, formerly known as Evangelicals for Harris, acknowledged in a new statement on Tuesday that its use of Graham’s likeness in campaign ads may have violated copyright and unintentionally suggested Graham supported Harris’s candidacy.
The group acknowledged that it did not receive permission from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association before using the clips.
“Our intent was not to infringe on BGEA’s copyright or to give the impression that Rev. Graham would have taken a side in publicly supporting one political candidate over another in an election, so we apologize to BGEA,” Evangelicals for America said in its statement.
“Our hope is that these actions and our commitment not to use Rev. Billy Graham within a partisan electoral context will clarify confusion over the message in our original ads; affirm the value and importance of Christian dialogue about the way we engage in politics, and prioritizes Christians remaining in communion despite differences,” the group added.
