Sean Hannity, Franklin Graham appeal to WWII, Old Testament to justify Iran war

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Friday, April 17, 2026

Fox News host Sean Hannity invoked World War II and the Old Testament to defend the Iran war and criticize Pope Leo XIV during a Thursday episode of his cable news program, which featured similar arguments from evangelist Franklin Graham.

Noting he was raised Roman Catholic but left the Church over "institutionalized corruption" that went unchecked and was never fully corrected, Hannity said he still considers himself a Christian. But he believes the pope is "seemingly more interested in spreading left-wing politics than the actual teachings of Jesus Christ."

Pushing back on the pope's claim last week that "God does not bless any conflict" and that "anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs," Hannity cited conflicts in the Old Testament to argue such an assertion "is simply not biblically accurate."

"The Bible contains over 400 references to war, frequently depicting God as authorizing, commanding, [and] intervening in battles like one that we all know: the battle between David and Goliath," he said.

"Why is the pope twisting religion to specifically attack only President Trump and the U.S.?" he asked, going on to suggest the American pope's meetings with former Obama adviser David Axelrod earlier this month and Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker last fall indicate a political motivation.

Hannity's citation of the Old Testament echoed a similar argument he made he made last Friday on his radio show, during which he also referenced the story of David and Goliath and questioned whether the pope had ever read the Bible.

Hannity then transitioned to an interview with Graham, asking whether it would have been morally permissible to preemptively kill Adolf Hitler "before he killed millions of people."

Saying it would "absolutely" have been morally right to kill Hitler before he committed his crimes and that World War II was justified, Graham made similar arguments last month defending the Iran conflict as a similar fight against evil. He also blamed the violence in Gaza and southern Lebanon on Iran.

"Iran has said that they want to wipe Israel off the face of the map. They want to destroy the Jews. They [want to] drive everyone in[to] the sea — they've said that. They call America the great Satan. They took our embassy, held our Marines and our embassy staff, I think it was 444 days," he said.

"These people are dangerous people, and they are a danger to the world. All of Gaza, that is the Iranians. You take what's happening in southern Lebanon, that's the Iranians. So yes, I think President Trump has done the right thing."

"I hate war. I don't like war. I don't support war, but sometimes you have to fight evil, and that's exactly what President Trump is doing. It will be a much safer world — much safer in the Middle East — when President Trump gets this done," he added.

Later, noting he is "not a biblical scholar," Hannity repeated his observation that the Old Testament contains hundreds of references to warfare, prompting Graham to say, "You're right."

"Well, if Reverend Graham says I'm right, I'm doing pretty good," Hannity added.

The moral justification of the Iran war has stirred intense debate among Christians, especially Roman Catholics. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, claimed earlier this month that the preemptive nature of the U.S.-Israeli strike against Iran rendered it unjust.

"I would think, under the just war theory, it is not," Broglio told CBS News' "Face the Nation" when asked if the conflict was justified according to Catholic teaching. "Because while there was a threat with nuclear arms, it's compensating for a threat before the threat is actually realized." He urged Catholic service members facing a moral dilemma to "do as little harm as you can."

During his weekly monologue on Wednesday, commentator and Iran war critic Tucker Carlson said that while Hannity is "not a bad guy, not a mean guy," his papal criticisms reflect a shallow "cable news mentality" that disregards the New Testament while misapplying the Old Testament.

Carlson argued that Hannity and others point to frequent violence in the Bible — noting Israel's conflicts with groups such as the Amalekites and the Philistines — to justify modern warfare.

"Which is true, by the way, it is all in there, but it's not in the New Testament. And for Christians, that's the difference," he said, adding that Christians believe the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

"There's not one page or sentence in the entire New Testament in which Jesus is recorded saying, 'They're very annoying, or they're a threat, or they disagree with us, or they're of another faith, kill them.' Not once. In fact, it's the opposite of that," he added.

President Donald Trump on Friday claimed Iran "has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again," and said the U.S. was prohibiting Israel from further bombing Lebanon.

"They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the USA. Enough is enough," he wrote on Truth Social.