Evangelist Franklin Graham opened the final night of the Republican convention with a prayer that addressed the months of national strife over racial inequities, protests that have devolved into riots, fear of the deadly coronavirus, and a destructive tropical storm.
“As we come tonight, our country is facing trouble,” Graham said on Thursday, speaking from the White House Rose Garden. “Tens of thousands are in the path of a deadly storm. The pandemic has gripped millions of hearts with fear. We are divided. We have witnessed injustice. Anger and despair have flowed into the streets. We need your help. We need to hear your voice at this crucial hour.”
Over four days, convention speakers urged the public to reelect President Trump, who officials and others said would prioritize law and order and contain the unrest. Trump, on Thursday, gave a final address that condemned the protests that began following the death of George Floyd.
“We can never allow mob rule,” he said.
Graham continued his prayer and asked that Trump is granted wisdom and strength.
“We prayed that you would give him wisdom from on high,” Graham said. “Clarity of vision and strength as he leads this nation forward. Bless him.”
He added: “We pray for our vice president, Mike Pence, for his steady hand and clear voice.”
The late Rev. Billy Graham’s son, a staunch Trump supporter and a pastor in his own right, delivered his remarks on the final night of the Republican convention. Granddaughter Cissie Graham Lynch addressed the convention on Tuesday.
Graham once noted that Trump had broken all the rules of political correctness and still won the presidency. “He did everything wrong, politically,” Graham said of Trump in an interview with the Atlantic. “He offended gays. He offended women. He offended the military. He offended black people. He offended the Hispanic people. He offended everybody! And he became president of the United States. Only God could do that.”
There’s “no question” that God is supporting Trump, he said. “No president in my lifetime — I’m 64 years old— can I remember … speaking about God as much as Donald Trump does.”
Graham leads Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian relief organization. He revealed last year that his father had voted for Trump in the last election after Christianity Today, a periodical founded by Billy Graham, published an editorial calling for Trump to be removed from office.
Billy Graham “knew Donald Trump, he believed in Donald Trump, and he voted for Donald Trump,” his son wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. “He believed that Donald J. Trump was the man for this hour in history for our nation.”
