There’s Nothing Christian About Twisting Scripture to Smear Jews

On April 1st, Reverend Franklin Graham — son of the legendary evangelist Billy Graham — offered a prayer at a White House Easter celebration. Drawing on the Book of Esther, Graham asked God to grant President Trump victory against Iran’s Islamic Republic, comparing the ancient Persian regime’s genocidal designs on the Jewish people to the modern Iranian regime’s stated ambitions to destroy Israel.

In Graham’s own words: “Today the Iranians, the wicked regime of this government, wants to kill every Jew and destroy them with an atomic fire. But you have raised up President Trump. You’ve raised him up for such a time as this. And Father, we pray that you’ll give him victory.”

Tucker’s Claim

The very next day, Tucker Carlson took aim at Graham, accusing the reverend of praying for America to “kill the innocent,” including “kids and women.” He then claimed the Book of Esther is a story about the genocide of 75,000 Persians by Jews — and, as proof of its moral darkness, declared it the only book of the Bible that doesn’t mention God.

Setting the Record Straight

On Graham’s prayer: The reverend said no such thing. He prayed for America’s victory and for the protection of the Iranian people. At no point did he pray for the slaughter of innocents.

On the Book of Esther: The book is not about a Persian genocide. It is about the attempted genocide of the Jewish people — planned by Haman the Amalekite, a high-ranking official operating with the blessing of King Ahasuerus (widely believed to be Xerxes I). Haman secured a royal decree permitting Persians to kill Jews on the 13th of Adar and seize their property freely.

After Queen Esther bravely intervened, the king — unable under Persian law to rescind his own decree — issued a second one, this time allowing Jews to arm and defend themselves on that same day. When the day arrived and Persians mobilized to carry out the massacre, Jews fought back. Approximately 75,800 attackers were killed in the process.

Killing less than 1% of a population in direct self-defense against a state-sanctioned pogrom is not a genocide. The Book of Esther also makes a point of recording — three times — that the Jews did not touch the spoils of war or take their enemies’ property, even though the royal decree explicitly permitted them to do so. They fought to survive, not to plunder.

On the “only book without God’s name”: This claim is simply false. The Song of Solomon also contains no direct mention of God’s name.

As for why Esther omits God’s name — Jewish and Christian scholars have long noted that the Book of Esther deliberately omits mentioning God to highlight His providential, behind-the-scenes work through human actions rather than direct miracles. Written while Jews were in Persian captivity, this silence emphasizes God’s sovereign control over seemingly normal “coincidences,” demonstrating His presence and protection even when He seems absent.

Bottom Line

Tucker Carlson presents himself as a man of faith. Yet he managed to twist a biblical story of Jewish survival against genocidal persecution into a tale of Jewish aggression — misidentifying the victims as perpetrators, fabricating theological claims, and ignoring the prayer he was critiquing.

The Book of Esther is, at its core, a story about God’s unseen hand protecting His people from annihilation. A faithful reader sees divine providence on every page. Tucker Carlson read it and found a political weapon for his anti-Israel obsession.