Times have changed.
Yesterday, Jerry Falwell, Jr. was widely criticized for a photo of Falwell, his wife and Donald Trump posing in front of a framed copy of Playboy with Donald Trump on the cover.
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
Falwell has been defiant in responding to criticism even blocking critical Liberty University students on Twitter.
While Falwell, Jr. may not have known the Playboy cover was in the photo, he has taken a cavalier approach to Donald Trump’s relationship with Hugh Hefner and the publication. Trump gave interviews in 1990 and 2004 to Playboy and in 2006 rewarded an Apprentice team with a trip to the Playboy mansion. Trump showed up for the festivities.
Falwell, Jr’s approach is in sharp contrast to his father’s expressions of condemnation.
In 1976, presidential candidate Jimmy Carter gave an interview which was published in Playboy magazine. This was the famous “lust in the heart” interview where Carter acknowledged attractions to women in the context of Jesus’ teaching not to engage in lust in one’s heart.
After Carter left office, leader of the Moral Majority Jerry Falwell, Sr. condemned Carter for allowing his interview to be published in Playboy which Falwell called “a salacious vulgar magazine that did not even deserve the time of day.”
