On Thursday, Reuters published emails written by Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University and a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump. The emails show him attacking students and staff at the evangelical university he runs.
"The selection of emails provides a glimpse of the management style Falwell employs to run the nonprofit Christian university, which reports $2.8 billion in assets. Several of the emails take a derogatory tone toward Liberty parents, students, and other university officials," the publication reported.
In one email, Falwell said campus police chief Richard Hinkley was "a half-wit and easy to manipulate." Falwell added that Hinkley shouldn't be allowed to speak publicly.
In another from 2010, Falwell described a Liberty student as being "emotionally imbalanced and physically retarded." In an email from 2008, he insulted other Liberty students as "social misfits."
The leaked emails come as Falwell finds himself under increasing scrutiny.
Current and former Liberty University officials have recently expressed their growing frustration with Falwell, describing his leadership as a “dictatorship” and casting suspicions on his financial dealings.
“We’re not a school, we’re a real estate hedge fund,” said a senior university official with knowledge of Liberty’s finances. “We’re not educating, we’re buying real estate every year and taking students’ money to do it.”
