The White House has nominated Cissie Graham Lynch, the granddaughter and daughter of evangelists Billy and Franklin Graham, respectively, to serve as the next U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom.
“I would consider it a great honor and privilege to do so,” Lynch said on X on a Tuesday (Sept. 15). “If confirmed by the Senate, please pray that I would serve with excellence and make the most of every opportunity to protect our most precious and fundamental right — and one that far too many people around the world still live without — freedom of religion.”
Background
Lynch, who works as a spokesperson and a senior adviser for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the humanitarian aid group Samaritan’s Purse — both led by Franklin Graham — served among evangelical leaders on Trump’s first-term Faith Advisory Council.
Her nomination, announced by the White House on Monday, was hailed by the conservative Family Research Council.
Critics
However, the Freedom from Religion Foundation Action Fund, an advocacy group for the separation of church and state, questioned Lynch’s ability to support a range of religious perspectives around the world. The group pointed to a 2017 commentary posted on Lynch’s website defending the president’s first-term ban on travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries.
If approved by the Senate, Lynch would hold an office that has been unoccupied since the beginning of the second Trump administration. Rashad Hussain served as the religious freedom ambassador during the Biden administration — the first Muslim to hold the position.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Adelle Banks and originally published by Religion News Service.
