President Barack Obama may be refusing calls for a travel ban from the three West African nations affected by the Ebola outbreak, but a ban has essentially been put on by airlines that are refusing to fly in and out, says Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham.
Appearing Wednesday on
Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren," Graham said his group is unable to get supplies into the area because only one commercial airline is still making flights.
Samaritan's Purse is one of the private groups sending doctors and nurses to the area to help fight the deadly outbreak that has killed almost 5,000 people this year.
Graham met with Obama and his advisers Wednesday and asked for an "air bridge" – a regular schedule of military flights directly to and from west Africa.
He said volunteers returning from the area could be brought to the same place so it would be easy to test them for Ebola before they are allowed to return the general population. Ebola has an incubation period of 21 days.
Graham said he didn't get an answer, but was told the request would be taken "to another level."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.