NEWS

Cissie Lynch, granddaughter of Billy Graham, hopes for healing in America

DAVID DORSEY
DDORSEY@NEWS-PRESS.COM
Cissie Graham, 30 and a Fort Myers resident, supported Donald Trump during his presidential campaign. She is the granddaughter of the Rev. Billy Graham.

For Cissie Lynch, Monday seems like a long time ago.

The Fort Myers resident, a granddaughter of the Rev. Billy Graham, 98 and known as the “pastor to the presidents,” spoke Monday in Sarasota at a Donald Trump rally. Less than 48 hours later the reality TV star and businessman became the president-elect of the United States of America.

“Yes, it’s been a long week,” said Lynch, who moved to Fort Myers after her husband, Corey Lynch, an Evangelical Christian School graduate and Cape Coral native, retired in 2013 from a six-season career in the NFL.

“I had the honor of speaking in the pre-program along with some other speakers on the stage,” Cissie Lynch, 30, said.

Now that Trump has won, Lynch has turned her attention to another cause. She hopes to help heal the nation from a presidential campaign that lacked civility, from Facebook feeds to Twitter streams to the debate stages and rally stages of Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

“The last year, you could really just feel the fire in people’s hearts,” Lynch said. “I see it every day. I have friends who wouldn’t even tell their family members who they were voting for. We’re already a divided country for many reasons.”

Lee County's turnout almost 78 percent

Trump passed the 270 electoral college votes needed to win Wednesday morning and held a 279 to 228 lead in the afternoon with Arizona, Michigan and New Hampshire still not decided. Clinton led the popular vote, 47.7 percent to 47.5 percent, a difference of just 167,661 votes: 59.6 million to 59.4 million.

“We can look at the popular vote in this country,” Lynch said. “We obviously have a divided country. Churches have been divided. Families have been divided. As believers in Jesus, we have to unite. We have to come together. There’s a lot of healing that has to be done.”

Lynch drew the speaking slot at Trump’s rally in part because of a blog post she published Oct. 13.

Titled “Unapologetically voting for Trump,” she acknowledged Trump’s character flaws but expressed her opinion that Trump would nominate more Supreme Court justices in line with her conservative opinions than Hillary Clinton would.

“I had major concerns about the Supreme Court,” Lynch said. “The next president could nominate up to five justices for the Supreme Court.”

Lynch did not sugarcoat Trump in her blog, either.

Lynch wrote: “Like you, and many others, I am overwhelmed and raw with emotions while witnessing what is happening in our country. And like many Americans, especially those of us who consider ourselves conservative, I wonder who would have thought we would be here with the two candidates that remain? That Donald Trump could possibly be the representation of conservative America as our next president?

“Comments and actions of these two people – who our country has nominated for our next president – are wretched and inexcusable. Both are terribly flawed. They lack what most of us would like to see in the next Commander-in-Chief of the United States.”

Lynch then expressed her support for Trump because he has surrounded himself with “godly counsel,” meeting with more than 500 influential faith leaders during his campaign, listening to and connecting with them. Those leaders included Franklin Graham, Cissie Lynch’s father and the founder of Samaritan’s Purse ministries. Trump also has met Billy Graham, who as a pastor has met with every United States president since World War II.

Lynch said he hoped by surrounding himself with wise counsel that Trump would be a good president and make wise choices for the country.

“As you read in the Old Testament, there are many examples of times God used wicked leaders to help advance His people,” Lynch wrote. “Pharaoh, Xerxes, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar… just to name a few. God also used godly men and women who gained enough respect from their leaders for the good of the Kingdom. Joseph, Esther, and Daniel all found favor in the leaders they served as they led others in God’s will. Each leader was willing to listen to God’s people and to serve Him.”

Pastors preach unity despite presidential politics

Lynch said she hoped all Americans would come back together again. She said she has continued to pray for Barack Obama during his presidency, and she hopes others will join her in praying for Trump.

“We need to pray that we are honorable and respectful,” Lynch said.

Connect with this reporter: David Dorsey (Facebook), @DavidADorsey (Twitter).