Jerry Falwell Jr. Leaves Ominous Midnight Warning On Reporter's Voicemail

Jerry Falwell Jr., a leading evangelical Christian voice and close confidante of President Donald Trump, called a New York Times reporter around midnight and left an ominous voicemail.

“You’re in some serious trouble,” he said, per The New York Times.

The newspaper reported Falwell also accused reporters of traveling to the university’s Lynchburg, Virginia, campus from New York and putting students at risk of coronavirus infection. The Times said they did not.

Falwell has been attacking the media, including the Times, following reports critical of his decision to partially reopen Liberty University last month during the ongoing pandemic. The Times said he threatened to sue the newspaper. He also had his campus police issue arrest warrants for two journalists ― reporter Alec MacGillis of ProPublica and Times freelance photographer Julia Rendleman ― charging them with trespassing.

Falwell, who is president of the university, is currently the subject of a class-action lawsuit accusing him of putting students at risk by partially reopening amid the pandemic. Lynchburg Mayor Treney Tweedy described the decision to allow students back on campus after spring break as “reckless.”

Earlier this week, Liberty announced that two employees had tested positive, two were awaiting results and seven others had been asked to self-quarantine based on symptoms, according to the News & Advance, a newspaper in Lynchburg.