Jerry Falwell Jr. Takes Indefinite Leave From Liberty University Post

👤Jerry Falwell Jr., a leading evangelical ally of President Donald Trump, has taken an indefinite leave of absence from his posts as president and chancellor of Liberty University, the Christian school he has run for more than a decade, its board of trustees said on Friday.

Falwell’s departure, announced in a one-sentence statement from the board, came days after he had posted, then deleted, a Instagram photo of himself standing with his pants unzipped and an arm around a young woman, a drink in his other hand.

The woman’s pants were also partially undone.

The caption of the photo, a screenshot of which went viral after it was posted by a Houston Chronicle reporter on Sunday, read: “more vacation shots. Lots of good friends visited us on the yacht. I promise that’s just black water in my glass. It was a prop only.”

In an interview on Thursday with radio station WLNI-FM in Lynchburg, where the university is based, Falwell apologized and said the picture was staged as a good-natured joke.

The woman was his wife’ assistant, who is pregnant, he said, according a WLNI clip from the interview.

“She couldn’t get her pants zipped, and I was like trying to like … I had a pair of jeans I haven’t worn in a long time and, I couldn’t get mine zipped either. So, I just put my belly out like hers,” he told WLNI.

“I should never have put (the photo) up and embarrassed her. … I’ve apologized to everybody. I promised my kids I will try to be a good boy from here on out,” Falwell said.

The board moved on Friday to oust Falwell, issuing a statement that read: “The Executive Committee of Liberty University’s Board of Trustees, acting on behalf of the full Board, met today and requested that Jerry Falwell