Correction: This headline was corrected on November 9th. Original headline said televangelist Joni Lamb traveled to Trump victory party, which is incorrect. Joni revealed on the TV program MinistryNow that her daughter Rachel Lamb Brown and two son-in-laws traveled to the Trump event.
(Screenshot: Pastor Planes uses ADSB Exchange to track the Daystar jet on Election Day.)
On November 5th, Word of God Fellowship’s Gulfstream G-V jet (tail number N279PH) flew from Fort Worth Meacham Airport to Palm Beach International Airport.
Word of God Fellowship is the parent organization of Daystar Television Network, America’s second largest religious TV network, headed by Joni Lamb.
Joni’s daughter Rachel Lamb Brown posted Instagram stories from Trump’s victory party.
According to Airport Distance Calculator, the jet traveled at least 971 nautical miles to reach West Palm Beach, Florida. LibertyJet estimates the average cost per mile for a Gulfstream G-V jet flying 200 hours per year is $19.58.
Therefore, the Daystar trip from Texas to Florida and back cost an estimated $38,024. Who paid for this trip? Did Daystar’s board approve the flights as a ministry-related expense or was it considered a personal trip, and Joni reimbursed the cost of the flights?
Trinity Foundation’s Pastor Planes project also tracked Liberty University’s Cessna 680 jet (tail number N71LU) which flew on election day from Lynchburg Regional Airport to Palm Beach International Airport.
(Screenshot: ADSB Exchange tracking map shows Liberty University jet flight on Election Day.)
Liberty University’s jets are registered in the name of C&C Aviation, LLC, a property holding company located on the university campus.
According to Airport Distance Calculator, the jet traveled at least 641 nautical miles to reach West Palm Beach, Florida. LibertyJet estimates the average cost per mile for a Gulfstream G-V jet flying 400 hours per year is $11.10. (Liberty University’s jet travelled significantly more than Daystar’s jet each year.)
The flight from Lynchburg, Virginia to West Palm Beach would have cost an estimated $7,115. While this is a miniscule amount for a university with over a billion dollars in assets, donors do deserve to a proper accounting for this kind of flight.
Liberty University files an annual Form 990 disclosing total travel expenses and compensation for highly paid employees. However, Daystar does not provide this information to donors.
Other well-known religious figures in attendance at the Trump victory party were televangelist Paula White and charismatic worship leader Sean Feucht.
A week before the election, Daystar’s jet flew to Atlanta for the Inaugural National Faith Summit, organized by Paula White’s National Faith Advisory Board.
The summit featured some of America’s best known religious leaders: Jentezen Franklin, pastor of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia; Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas; and Ralph Reed, head of Faith and Freedom Coalition.
Events like the Inaugural National Faith Summit exist in a grey area. Supporters will claim the events are protected by the First Amendment while detractors will point to the Johnson Amendment prohibiting non-profit organizations from supporting political candidates running for office.
Correction: The names of Kenneth Copeland, Franklin Graham, Greg Laurie and Guillermo Maldonado were removed from the paragraph listing participants at the Inaugural Faith Summit. While the Nation Faith Advisory Board website lists each of them as special guests, they didn’t appear on stage at the summit.